


Imperial Luke

by Skyguyy



Series: Imperial Luke [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Baby Luke, Child Luke Skywalker, Dad Vader, Family, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Imperial Luke, Imperial Luke Skywalker, Luke Skywalker is a Cinnamon Roll, One Shot Collection, Parent Darth Vader, Parent Darth Vader AU, Prince Luke, Prince Luke Skywalker, Protective Darth Vader, This is one shots in the same AU, mini archs, sad murder dad, some archs will be serious
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:54:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 68,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24460861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyguyy/pseuds/Skyguyy
Summary: One-shots and mini arches of Darth Vader raising Luke and Luke growing up in the Imperial System. these are all in the same AU, basically Dad Vader and cinnamon roll Luke making their way in this galaxy.I may expand on some arches and see where the story goes; Imperial Luke- Naboo's Imperial Parade is part of this AU
Relationships: Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader
Series: Imperial Luke [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1838965
Comments: 233
Kudos: 320





	1. The Baby Part 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Dad Vader Chronicles](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24368515) by [LadyVader23](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyVader23/pseuds/LadyVader23). 



> Okay! So I basically function on parent Darth Vader and Imperial Luke, so I wanted to create something where I can make one shots or mini arches in this universe. 
> 
> This is inspired by LadyVader23's story The Dad Vader Chronicles, they are really good stories. 
> 
> This first story is actually loosely based on a childhood injury I had.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vader is informed of a child on Tatooine with the last name of Skywalker, this peaks his interests

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to make one where Vader finds Luke, I couldn't stop thinking about it so here it is!
> 
> I got some inspiration from Imperial Babysitters by Laivaaja which will melt your heart its so sweet omg

Recovering from his injuries he had received months prior, he meditated in his hyperbaric chamber. Everything still hurt, breathing, moving, every action he made grinded on his wounds. He had still made very little progress in healing. But he knew it ultimately helped him fuel into the Dark Side. The pain was unbearable, but the power it gave him was unmatched to anything he had felt before. 

He sat in his chamber on the  _ Devastator _ while in hyperspace towards the very planet he swore to never come back to again. The news he received though was worth looking into, in fact, the news was incredibly strange. An Inquisitor had informed him on the findings of a small child that was only a few months old, the baby was incredibly force sensitive. The Inquisitor had found this child by looking through Anchorhead’s registrations and found this child was registered to the name of;

_ Name: Skywalker, Luke _

_ Residence: Lars Moisture Farm _

_ Parent/Guardians: Owen Lars, Beru Whitesun _

The Inquisitor believed this child to be the offspring of Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight. Skywalker, Moisture farm, Lars, all of this connected, connected to his old life. Something he swore to destroy, to let go of, his old life was a waste. Despite his strong hatred for his old life, he had a strong urge to see the boy. He needed to see him, to know he was real. He definitely wasn’t going to leave him on Tatooine, no one deserves to grow up there, especially his own child. 

He had ordered the Inquisitor to deliver the child to the  _ Devastator _ once the Star Destroyer arrived over Tatooine, that the child was unharmed, to be discreet as possible. He wanted this to stay as quiet as possible, he had cleared his private hangar and would have to kill the Inquisitor. If they believed this child was the offspring of Anakin Skywalker, he would no doubt soon connect the dots on who was once Anakin. 

The  _ Devastator _ jumped out of hyperspace, Vader opened his eyes in his chamber, he was here. He pressed a button on a control panel in his chamber, his mask descended on him as the pod lifted. The steam poured out from the pod as the lid rose, he stood from his chair and quickly exited his private chambers. His com began to go off, he picked it up.

“My Lord, I am currently exiting Tatooine's atmosphere with the child.” The Inquisitor said.

“Excellent, land in my private hangar, Inquisitor.” Vader spoke into the com.

“At once, My Lord.” 

The call was cut, Vader walked down the hall towards his private hangar. He couldn’t help but grow restless, he was about to see his child, he didn’t know what to expect. While he walked the halls of the  _ Devastator _ , he felt a presence in the force grow stronger, grow closer to the ship. It was bright, the brightest force presence he had ever felt. It was warm, pure light, was that him? 

He reached the hangar and walked in, it was a rather large hangar with his personal TIE stationed. It was an expanse of black glossy durasteel floors, he saw a ship next to his TIE. It’s exit ramp began to lower, Vader strode towards it with his hands held behind his back. The sounds of his footsteps echoed around the hangar, he stopped in front of the exit ramp and saw the Inquisitor walk out.

The Inquisitor stopped in front of Vader and bowed, “My Lord, I have delivered the child as you have requested.” 

“Excellent work, Inquisitor.” The man held a stern and serious face, he held his shields well, but no doubt he was confused. Inquisitors jobs were to collect force-sensitive children, but never has one been delivered to Darth Vader. 

“The child is on the ship, my Lord.” The Inquisitor added, Vader didn’t listen to him any further. He reached out to the force presence on the ship, the child was sleeping, at peace. Vader didn’t want to drag this out further then he needed to, he boarded the ship and walked into the cockpit. There he saw in the co-pilot's seat was a white bassinet carrier, he stood there in the entrance of the cockpit for a minute just looking at the carrier. He walked closer and saw what was in the carrier, he didn’t know what to expect when he would see the child, but it wasn’t this.

He felt rushed with emotions, old and new. He believed he lost the ability to feel such things when he became a Sith. The force sang to him that this was his baby, but he couldn’t comprehend it. His master lied to him, lied about what happened to her, what he did to her and their baby. He sorted through the abundance of emotions as he looked down on his tiny baby.

Sith were not supposed to feel such things, it was viewed as weak. Love was a feeling he was familiar with. He thought he had felt love to an extent that was emotionally possible for a person to feel, the love he had was Padme. The very thought of her still sent him reeling, their love was strong, neverending. As he looked down at the sleeping child, something in him burst, releasing a tidal wave of emotions he was sure a Sith was not supposed to feel, they were so strong he didn’t think was possible to feel. It rushed through his veins, it was pure, unrelenting, unconditional. His son was so small and tiny, his baby,  _ her _ baby. A fusion of them both, he was perfect.

He reluctantly turned to leave, he had to address the Inquisitor and make sure that was taken care of before anything else happened. While his baby slept he walked down the exit ramp the Inquisitor stood tall and bowed once Vader stood in front of him. 

“You have done well, Inquisitor.” Vader said to the man, “Your assistance is no longer required.” The Inquisitor looked at him curiously.

“A-Assistance?” He stammered, the Inquisitor then reached for his throat and quickly raised in the air. His shields lowered, fear radiated off of him. Vader lingered for a moment, sitting in the pure power and energy from the dark side. Not long after, he crushed the man before him. His body fell to the ground with a thud, he pulled out his com. 

“Lieutenant Lekauf, bring a crew to dispose of the body in my personal hangar.”

“At once, my Lord.” Lekauf responded, Vader stood there staring at the body. He turned to face the ship, what was he going to do? This boy, his boy, was in there. He stalked up the exit ramp of the ship and walked back in the cockpit, looked back down at the boy. He was awake and looked straight up at him. Without thinking, his hand slowly moved towards the baby. He didn’ know what was reaching for but stopped when the baby wrapped his tiny hand around Vader's finger.

He stood there frozen, the babies hand squeezed as tight as he could. It was then when he fully understood, he was a father, this baby's father. He was broken from his trance when he heard shuffling outside of the ship, he turned around and walked off the ship. He saw Lieutenant Lekauf ordering a group of stormtroopers to dispose of the body.

The stormtroopers picked up the body and quickly moved it out of the hangar, Lekauf turned to Vader and bowed. “My Lord.” He looked at Vader with a stern face.

“Summon a medical droid at once, Lieutenant.” He instructed Lekauf who then pulled out his com and ordered a medical droid to his hangar. Just then the sound of a child crying rang through the hangar, Lekauf looked up to the ship in disbelief. 

“I-Is there a child on that ship?” Lekauf stammered, Vader walked towards him slowly. 

“Lieutenant, what I am about to relay onto you must remain confidential. If any word of this gets out, I know it would have been you who spread the information, you  _ will _ pay the price.” Lekauf looked at him, eyes wide, he swallowed hard and nodded slowly. “You are now under a special assignment.” Vader pointed towards the ship, “In that ship, there is a child of significant importance to me. I require your assistance in its care until we reach Coruscant.”

Just then a med droid rolled over towards the two, Vader faced the droid. “Collect a blood sample from the child in the ship, run the DNA against mine. Inform me of the results.” He ordered.

“Right away, Lord Vader.” The droid beeped, the Lieutenant in front of him looked bewildered. 

“Lieutenant.” Vader said slowly, “The child on that ship is my child.” Lekauf blinked quickly in shock and drew in a deep breath.

“I understand, my Lord.” Lekauf finally spit out.

“Acquire baby formula, every standard medpack will obtain a few packets.” Vader informed, although every medpack contained dry packets of baby formula, it was never used. They never had a reason to, until now. 

“At once, my Lord.” Lekauf replied, just then the med droid rolled back off of the ship and came close to them. 

“I collected the blood sample and ran it against yours my Lord, here are the results.” The droid extended its arm holding a datapad. Vader grabbed it quickly and saw the results, yes, a match. As if he needed the blood test, the force told him, but he needed to see it, physically see it. “It would appear that the child is hungry.” The droid added.

“Bring the formula right away, then amass as many formula packets as you can for the time it takes to get to Coruscant.” He ordered, Lekauf nodded and quickly made his way out of the hangar. Luckily, the medbay is close to the hangers-on star destroyers. Vader then crushed the datapad in his hand with his fist and pointed at the droid. “Erase everything you have just done in your memory banks.”

“At once,” The droid beeped and stood still as it started their memory wipe, Vader strode past the droid onto the ship. The crying grew louder as he got closer, he walked in the cockpit and saw his baby crying. His fists were in tight balls, Vader didn’t know what to do. He wanted to pick him up, but he feared hurting him. He was still getting used to his cybernetics. 

He reached out again and placed the palm of his hand on the baby’s forehead, he opened up in the force and sent waves of soothing and calm towards his son. He hoped this would help, after a few moments the baby slowly quieted down. He pulled his hand back, the baby was still fussy due to his hunger. He thought of the registry the Inquisitor sent to his datapad, his name was under Skywalker,...

“Luke.” He said, his son's name. He wondered if it was the name she chose, it was a perfect name. He sensed the Lieutenant rushing in the hangar, he then saw Lekauf stumble in the cockpit holding a couple of medpacks. Lekaufs eyes landed on his son, he looked in slight amazement and noticed a small smile.

Luke soon began to cry again, “Hurry! He is hungry!” He didn’t want his son to starve! Lekauf hastily set down a medpack and opened it up. He ripped out most of the contents until he found a few small manilla contents and what looked to be a makeshift bottle. He mixed the contents of a packet with water and held the bottle in his hands.

“It's done sir- I- My Lord.” Lekauf held the bottle shakily, Vader stared at it. He didn’t know how to do any of this, once he got to Coruscant he would need to read more information on how to care for a baby,

“I- Lieutenant, feed him.” He ordered, Lekauf blinked quickly then moved over to Luke. Vader watched closely as Lekauf reached down and picked up Luke. He tensed up at the sight, he didn’t want strangers holding him. But Luke needed to eat, as he watched Lekauf hold Luke. As Lekauf held the bottle, he looked at Vader.

“Are you sure- do you want to- would you like to hold him?” Lekauf stammered, Vader stared at Luke. Yes, he would like to hold him, he hesitated but slowly reached out his hand. Lekauf slowly moved Luke over, Vader now held Luke. It was perplexing, holding his own baby. He couldn’t believe it, he couldn’t believe he was real.

He didn’t know how he felt about having a Lieutenant watching him hold a baby, but he wasn’t going to kill anyone in front of his child. The feeling of holding his son made emotions rise in his chest, he felt light. Love, he instantly knew. A strong bond between the two was established, his son was so small. Lekauf handed him the bottle, he grabbed it and bottle fed his son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked the first part! I am thinking it might be two to three parts. Let me know what you thought! 
> 
> Lekauf and Vader are two idiots with a baby, Vader will soon find out how to be a dad but rn its new to him!


	2. The Baby Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vader speaks with the Emperor about his baby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys like this new chapter!

This was all new to him, these past couple days had been quite an adjustment. Babies cried and  ate a lot, something he discovered as he attempted to keep somewhat of a routine on the  _ Devastator _ . He tried to keep focus, to do his job, but was incredibly distracted. When he would be on the bridge of the ship, looking out the viewport at hyperspace swirls, he felt strong urges to go back to his personal chambers and watch Luke. 

Lekauf’s personal assignment consisted of one thing, and one thing only. Watch Luke until they reached Coruscant, which he had been doing an excellent job at. He had also ordered Lekauf to have supplies a baby would need to survive delivered to his personal level in his palace in Coruscant as well. While it seemed to be going smoothly for now, Sidious was a rather large concern. He pondered on how Sidious would react to the news of his son. The son Sidious had claimed that Vader killed in the womb, along with Luke's mother. He squeezed his hands into tight fists, a lie, his master lied. 

Finally, his ship exited hyperspace, Vader looked down on Coruscant. The city glowed brightly even from up here. He could see the reflections from the lights on the viewport, it cast light shadows throughout the bridge.

“We arrived over Coruscant, Lord Vader.” A Captain spoke up, Vader turned around and faced him.

“Obviously,” Vader replied then quickly left the bridge. He quickly pulled out his com, “Have a personal shuttle prepared, Lieutenant, we will be leaving immediately.” He informed Lekauf. 

“Right away, my Lord.” Lekauf quickly replied, Vader stormed through the halls. Stormtroopers, Lieutenants, Technicians, P.A’s all alike feared Vader. They parted like water for him as he quickly crossed the star destroyer, they did their best to hide it. Vader always felt their fear spike as he passed.

Soon enough, he was in his personal champers. He quickly made his way to Luke who was still in the bassinet like carrier he was brought in. Luke looked up at Vader as he nibbled on his blanket, he seemed to be the only one who didn’t cower around the Sith Lord. His eyes were wide but were without fear, his son seemed to radiate curiosity through the force. He then saw Lekauf walk in his personal chambers.

“The shuttle is prepared, my Lord.” Lekauf bowed.

“Excellent work, Lekauf.” He used the force to gently lift Lukes carrier and headed for the hangar, Luke didn’t seem to notice he was moving, he was still asleep. He walked through the hangar, the carrier right in front of him with Lekauf following only a few steps behind. Vader walked in the shuttle, moved into the cockpit, and placed the carrier on the co-pilot's seat.

He lifted the ship out of the hangar and carefully maneuvered through space heading towards Coruscant. Luke squirmed as the shuttle began to move through space, he would have to tell the Emperor about Luke. His instincts told him to hide Luke so the Emperor would never find out, Vader knew the Emperor would find out eventually. If Sidious found out later, it could possibly have worse repercussions then if he just told Sidious now. 

The ship entered Coruscant's atmosphere, he usually would speed through Coruscant's traffic but not this time. He was being as careful as possible, night rolled over the city.  When he reached his hangar, he went in for a smooth landing. He stood up from his seat and flew Lukes bassinet close behind him as we walked off the ship. He saw by the turbo-lift were a stack of boxes, Lekauf was already looking them over. Vader walked up to him, the bassinet floating behind softly.

Lekauf turned around quickly, “I believe these are the supplies I had ordered to be delivered to your personal residence, my Lord.” Lekauf informed Vader.

“Have a crew unpack them and build them, I want it finished by the time I return from the meeting with the Emperor.” He pointed at Lekauf, “Use any room by my personal chambers.”

Lekauf nodded as he wrote down in his datapad then looked back up, “What would you like me to do with-” Lekauf glanced at the floating bassinet, “The child?” 

“Keep him in my personal chambers, watch over him until I return,” Vader instructed, with the force he moved the bassinet around to be in front of him. Luke was still asleep, it was late after all. Lekauf grabbed the handle on the bassinet, Vader looked down on his son for a moment and found he didn’t want to leave his side.

“I will ensure his safety until your return, my Lord.” Lekauf stated as he held onto the bassinet.

“Be sure that you do!” He pointed hard at Lekauf, a threat clear in his voice. He then quickly turned back towards his shuttle. He boarded the ramp and entered the cockpit, lifted the shuttle, and headed towards the Imperial Palace. Possibilities of how Sidious would react ran through his head. Sidious could possibly see his son as a threat, someone who could overthrow his rule. Luke was only a baby, Vader tensed and squeezed the yoke of the shuttle at the possibility of Sidious commanding Luke to be executed. He would  _ never _ let that happen.

He remembered what he told Sidious before he left for Tatooine, that an Inquisitor reported urgent news and had alerted Vader. That a possible child of a Jedi was on Tatooine, he told Sidious he would see if what the Inquisitor claimed was true. Children of Jedi were incredibly rare, but if there was one somewhere in the galaxy, Sidious would want it handled quickly.

The Palace was in view through the transparisteel viewport of his shuttle, the night glow of Coruscant and the soft buzz of the millions of people’s force presence were examples of how this planet never sleeps. Nothing on Coruscant changed when the sun went down, soon he landed on one of the landing pads and turned off the shuttle. 

He quickly exited the shuttle, wanting this to be over as quickly as possible. He never enjoyed being in his master's presence, but unfortunately, it was mandatory. He entered the palace, people who were still working gasped slightly at the sight of him. They kept close to the walls as Vader marched through the center of the hallways towards Sidious’s private audience room. 

When he neared the large door to the Emperor's throne room, the praetorian guards swung the door open revealing the room. The Emperor's throne room was large with glossy marble flooring, tall transparisteel viewports lined the walls looking out over the city with long golden curtains. He walked the stretch from the large doors towards the throne, which sat atop a dias. Sidious looked upon Vader and sat up slightly the closer Vader got.

Vader kneeled before Sidious, waiting for him to say something. He kept his mental shields locked tightly. Sidious remained silent for a moment then began to drum his fingers on the armrest of his throne. “Lord Vader, how was your mission with the Inquisitor?”

“The mission was successful, the Inquisitor had found a force-sensitive child on Tatooine.” Vader informed, trying to find the right way to tell Sidious.

“Was it the child of a Jedi?” Sidious inquired, Vader was silent for a moment.

“The child is the offspring of the former Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker.” Vader still knelt before him, Sidious was silently glaring at him. A hush washed over the throne room, creating a thick level of tension between the two.

“The offspring of Anakin Skywaler?” Sidious finally said, his voice was venomous and slow. “And you executed the child, correct?” Sidious asked, Vader still was keeping his mental shields locked. 

“He is just a boy, he could be a great asset to us, my master.” Vader finally replied. With Sidious keeping his mental shields locked, there was no way of detecting what he felt. But from his facial expression, he didn’t look pleased.

“Or, he could be a great threat.” Sidious stood from his throne, his face was mostly covered in the dark shadow cast by his hooded robe. His yellow eyes glowed through the darkness. “I hope you know that, Lord Vader.” Vader stayed silent as Sidious slowly moved towards him. “You should have killed it.”

“I believe he could be a benefit to your power, to aid the Empire.” Vader replied, he had to make Sidious change his mind. He was not going to kill Luke. Sidious stood right in front of him, his hands gently held together.

“Where is the child?” Sidious asked.

“My residence, my master.” A look of disgust formed on Sidious’s face.

“You plan on keeping it?” Sidious asked incredulously, “Raise it?” The room fell to a tense chill, Sidious was disgusted by the idea of Vader raising his own child.

“I would like to raise my child.” 

“You believe you could possibly make a good father?” Sidious almost laughed, it was something Vader feared. How could he possibly raise a child, would he fail miserably? “Sith do not keep  _ pets _ .” Sidious spit.

“I do not wish to abandon my own child, my master.” He felt Sidious’s cold stare cut into him with disgust, a frown curled his lips. It was silent for a long time, Sidious staring at him intensely.

“You may keep it, but I will tell you when you can train him. I will keep track of his progress.” Sidious said finally after the moment of silence. 

“Of course, my master.” Vader replied.

“I want you to keep your priorities straight, Lord Vader.” Sidious placed his wrinkled hand on Vader's shoulder, “I shall always come before your offspring, your loyalty belongs with me.”

“Of course, my master,” Vader said again, Sidious removed his hand then waved it in the air.

“You are dismissed, Lord Vader.” Vader stood once again and bowed to Sidious before he left. He walked down the halls of the Palace clenching his hands in tight fists. The meeting with the Emperor was overall successful but was incredibly aggravating. He wouldn’t unlock his mental shields until he left the Palace, but deep inside he was boiling in rage. 

He stormed out of the Palace and entered his shuttle, began the ignition sequence and lifted the shuttle in the air. Pure hot rage rolled through him, Sidious was incredibly close to having his son be executed. While he was satisfied with the results of the meeting, the Emperor aggravated him. His son wasn’t a pet, not something you could just throw away like the Emperor had wanted him to. 

He flew through the city and soon came upon his hangar, he smoothly moved into the hangar and landed. Now that the confrontation with the Emperor was over, he could begin to worry about other things. But right now, all he wanted to do was see Luke. He walked out of the cockpit, down the exit ramp and saw most of the boxes that were stacked in a pile were gone. 

P.A’s were picking up the last few boxes and moved to the service turbolift to bring them up to his level, Lekauf was not here. He moved towards the turbo lift, his presence brought a hush over the crew unpacking the boxes in the hangar. He entered the turbolift and began to ascend to his level, he reached out with the force and poked at Lukes signature who seemed to be upset. 

He instantly wished the lift would move faster, soon the lift doors opened and he quickly walked down the halls and turned into his personal chamber. He saw Lekauf standing over the bassinet Luke was still in, a few boxes were placed around the two. Luke was crying, Vader rushed over.

“What is the matter?!” Vader asked Lekauf, Lekauf looked at him nervously.

“I-I-” He stammered and swallowed hard, “He just started to cry.” 

“Why!?” Vader demanded, Lekauf took a couple of nervous breaths.

“I-I don’t know, he has been fed, changed, I am not sure.” Lekauf looked at Luke nervously, “Maybe he just wants to be held?” Held? Do babies just want to be held? Vader reached out with the force again, Luke seemed fine overall, but was distressed. 

“What are all these boxes in here?” Vader asked.

“Some boxes contain clothes, blankets, bottles, and toys, my Lord.” Lekauf informed him, Vader lifted one of the boxes through the force and held it in his hands. Perhaps he could find something to calm his little one down, he looked through it. There were tightly folded blankets stuffed inside the box. He looked at them, some were striped, polka-dotted, or a plain color. The one that stuck out to him was the blankets with small ducks on it. 

He pulled the blanket out, and turned to Lekauf, “Leave us.” Lekauf quickly bowed and left the room. He no longer wanted his subordinates to see him holding a child, he still had an image to hold. Once Lekauf had left, he moved over to Luke who was wailing in his bassinet. He placed the blanket on him, he kicked his tiny feet and balled his fists. 

Still slightly apprehensive, he gently picked up Luke. It was still quite awkward for him, seeing as he had never held a kid before this. He opened up to the force and stretched out to his son, sending again soothing and comforting feelings to him. Trying to put his son at ease, Luke tugged at the blanket here and there. He paced in front of the bassinet, continuing to send nothing but comfort to his son. 

Vader began to think maybe he couldn’t even comfort his own son, he was set up to be a terrible father. Perhaps Sidious was right, how could he be possibly a good father? When it all began to seem hopeless, the crying quieted down, Luke now was asleep peacefully in his arms wrapped up in his ducky blanket. He couldn’t believe he had done it, he comforted his baby. How he had done this was beyond him, something inside him rose into his chest as he held him. He quickly put Luke back in the bassinet. He looked down at him and knew the meeting with the Emperor was worth it, now that he had his son. 

He turned to leave the room, the doors swooshed open and Vader saw Lekauf standing in a doorway looking into a room a little down the hall. Vader walked down, Lekauf looked to see Vader coming and moved aside. Vader looked in, it was quite perplexing. A nursery, he never expected to have one on his personal level in his Palace. He was probably the first Sith in history to have one.

“Have Luke moved into this room, Lieutenant,” Vader instructed, Lekauf bowed and moved to grab Luke. Vader walked in the room and stood with his hands behind his back waiting for Lekauf, soon his Lieutenant came back in holding Luke and put Luke in the crib. Lekauf turned back to face Vader.

“I hope this room is up to your standards, my Lord.” Lekauf had his hands placed behind his back.

“It is adequate, follow me.” Vader left the room, he did not wish to wake his sleeping son. Vader walked to the large sitting room and looked out the large transparisteel viewport at the glowing city. Lieutenant Lekauf stood behind him silently, waiting for him to speak. “I have decided to make you my personal assistant, your post will be here, Lieutenant.” He heard Lekauf gasp and felt his shock radiate through the force.

“I-It’s an honor, my Lord.” His voice was in clear disbelief. Vader had looked into Lieutenant Lekauf’s work history while on the  _ Devastator _ , his work history and climbing through the ranks was impressive.

“I found your skills most valuable.” Vader turned to face him, “You shall keep post here for the evening, collect profiles of potential au pairs for my son and bring them to be in the morning.”

“Yes, my Lord” Lekauf bowed and pulled out his datapad.

“I shall be in my private chambers, do not disturb me unless it is urgent.” Vader turned around quickly and walked back to his private chambers. He opened his meditation pod and moved to sit in it. The pod closed, his mask lifted and he slowly breathed in the oxygen. He unlocked his shields and stretched out with the force, he reached for his sleeping son. He wondered how much more his life could change now he was a father and would be raising his son. Though he was worried he was destined to be a bad father, he would do his best for Luke. So far, a considerable amount has changed, but it was all worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked this latest chapter! I love writing baby Luke! Let me know if you want more baby Luke and let me know what you thought! Thank you again for reading!


	3. The Emperors Ball

The Emperor held an annual ball in the Empires honor, or more so, in _his_ honor. The Emperor's Ball was long, boring and full of petty politicians and annoying public officials. This was definitely not a place for a small child, though some things were unavoidable. 

He was sure his son would find no enjoyment at such an event, his five-year-old would end up just clutching to him the entire time, too afraid to break away from him and meet new people. There was an area for parents to drop their children off in a designated area, but Luke seemed to have a small amount of separation anxiety. 

Vader had never brought Luke, Luke was a baby when the Emperor started the Ball. But the Emperor has requested for Luke to attend this one, Vader thought perhaps it was a tactic to make friends with a new system that joined the Empire. They had small children too, or perhaps it was to finally have the Imperial Prince make an appearance at an Imperial event. 

Vader checked the chronometer, it was time to leave, he walked over to Lukes's bedroom. He saw his son playing with the cape attached to his outfit, waving it around in the air.

“What are you doing, little one?” Vader folded his arms, Luke looked up at him happily, his eyes bright with excitement. 

"I am playing with my cape!" Luke smiled, "Its kind of like yours!"

“Yes it is, my son.” Luke walked towards him.

“Are we leaving now?! What's the party like!?” He was practically jumping with excitement. 

“Yes, we are leaving now.” Vader turned to leave, he didn’t want to tell his son it would be boring. But he wasn’t going to lie, he had always wanted to go with his father. Luke had taken the end of Vader's cape and trailed behind him, he had started doing this recently. 

"Is there gonna be music? Is there gonna be dancing?" Luke continued to ask what would happen at the party, he even asked if it was actually a costume party. How in the galaxy did he get so excited for this?

“This is going to be the best party ever!” Luke cheered.

* * *

They arrived on the landing pad in front of the Palace, Luke jumped out of the speeder. They saw several other speeders land with people coming out, Vader recognized them as Senators and Generals. Luke looked at them in amazement “Look at all those people!”

Vader inwardly sighed as he and Luke made their way through the palace, Luke stuck close to his father and held onto his cape. Though he looked around in amazement, the palace was elegant, glossy stone flooring, chandeliers, the Emperor only wanted the finest possessions. 

“Hello!!” Luke began to greet as many people as he could as they passed them, Luke gave them a wave, his smile was bright. People who noticed gave him a smile back, though some were nervous around Vader. They entered the Emperor's large throne room, the Emperor of course was sitting on his throne. Looking over all of his guests, his smile grew at the sight of Vader. 

Vader moved to stand in front of Luke as the Emperor moved swiftly over to them. “Lord Vader!” He clapped his hands together, “I am glad you are here, my apprentice.” 

“It is an honor.” Vader bowed, Sidious moved his head around Vader and saw Luke, he felt Luke’s fear slightly spike in the force. He was always scared of Sidious.

“Ah, I see your offspring is here.” he purred as he moved to get a more clear view of Luke. “And how are you this evening, young Skywalker?” Luke was silent for a moment, then did a small bow.

“I am doing good, your highness.” His voice was small, Vader was relieved Luke remembered his manners.

“I hope to see you at more Imperial events, young Skywalker.” 

Luke nodded, Sidious looked back to face Vader. “He should become more involved, if his future is to be part of the Empire.” Vader thought that was absurd, he was 5, involved in what? But, obviously he wasn’t going to say that.

“I agree.” 

“I must return to my guests Lord Vader, enjoy the ball.” He said with a menacing chuckle, he was well aware Vader hated public events. The Emperor moved away from the two, Vader relaxed, he wasn’t even aware how tense he was.

He felt a tug on his cape, he looked down at Luke. “So what are we gonna do now? Are there games!?”

Maybe he should have expressed to his son that these events were not like birthday parties, these were terribly boring. His son looked up at him expectantly. “I have to talk with adults, we can go and find children your age if you would like.” 

Luke looked around the room hesitantly, it was crowded and saw mostly adults chatting with each other holding drinks. There had to be a place people dropped off their kids, then as if on cue, a nanny droid walked up to them.

“Would you like me to bring this child to the kids room?” The droid beeped.

“Yes, direct us to the room.” He was going to make sure Luke got there safely, not leave him alone with some droid. Luke hopped excitedly behind the droid as it led them to a kids room.

“Here it is, I can assure you your child will be safe in here.” The droid told Vader, Luke and Vader walked in the room. It was once loud with laughter and chatter from the kids, when Vader walked in all the kids gasped at him. It was silent, Luke backed up nervously into Vader's leg at everyone's gaze. 

“Perhaps I should leave.” Vader said, the room remained silent. The kids stared at him, wide eyed like prey. Luke was still close to Vader, clinging to his cape. “You must let go, my son.” 

“I am scared.” He whispered, the kids in the room slowly started to go back to what they were doing, but they kept glancing back. Some never stopped staring at Vader though. “Can’t I stay with you?” Luke pleaded.

“You would be terribly bored, you will be more entertained here Luke.” 

“They were all looking at us…”

“Not at you, but at me. You have nothing to fear.” 

Luke took a deep breath, stepped away and looked up at Vader. He looked nervous, Vader ruffled his hair which seemed to bring a smile on his face. “Bye bye.” Luke smiled with a wave and walked into the room.

He walked back out to the ball, people parted like water as he came through. He was sure a few senators would muster up the courage to speak with him, this was going to be a long party. 

* * *

The night passed, he had ended up spending most of his time with his master. He was glad the ball was running to a close, he could finally take Luke and leave this place. Several times during the party he brushed against Lukes force signature, making sure he was alright. 

Everything seemed fine for a while, the party seemed to be proceeding as normal.

_!BOOM!_

The ball room went silent except for a few murmurs and whispers, there was a crash. After nothing further happened, everyone slowly went back to chatting like nothing happened. Vader did not ignore it though, he swiftly made his way through the crowd to see what happened.

Perhaps it was a Rebel attack, though the Rebellion was too small to attack the center of the Empire. Though, no one ever said the Rebels were smart, they could be foolish enough for such an attempt. After he left the main ballroom and entered the hall, he saw a group of children crowded around something. 

The kids looked up at Vader and gasped, they moved aside to reveal what they were fixated on. He saw his son trying to stand, he leaned against the door frame to the children's room, Luke blinked his eyes weakly.

“What happened!” Vader demanded, “Why was there a large crash?”

Luke rubbed the back of his head, “Well, I was running out of the room to come find you...But I slipped on some ice and fell.” Vader was relieved to hear his son didn’t get into any trouble at least or break anything from the palace.

“Are you alright?” He stepped closer to Luke, who still seemed pretty woozy, he wondered how hard he hit his head. Children were clumsy after all.

“Yeah..” Luke still rubbed the back of his head, “My head just hurts.” Luke pulled his hand from the back of his head, his hand was covered in blood. Luke's eyes grew wide and tearful, Vader felt his heart drop to his stomach. 

With a flash Vader swooped Luke up and headed for the exit quickly.

_Was he going to die?_

_He was too young for this, too innocent._

Luke had tears running down his face, “Am I going to be okay?” He whimpered, maybe he was scared of his father's reaction.

“ _Yes!_ ” Vader insisted as they made their way to the speeder, he put Luke down on the seat right next to the drivers side, Lukes hair began to gather blood. Vader grabbed a handful of his cape and pressed it on Lukes head.

“Hold this in place!” He directed Luke, Luke moved his small hand over and was looking around nervously. They entered Coruscants speeder traffic, he sped through not following any of the flying laws.

“Are you speeding?” Luke asked, his voice was weak. His son was concerned with speeder traffic laws!?

He didn’t answer his son, he felt no words come to him. ‘Get him to a medcenter’ played over and over in his head. Thankfully, they made their way to the medcenter quickly and landed on a landing pad. He quickly got out and picked up Luke, he then pressed Lukes small cape on his head and he rushed into the building.

“My cape..” Luke cried, tears still streamed down his face. His presence silenced the waiting room, he walked up to the reception droid. 

“I need a doctor right now, I will not wait.” Before the droid responded, a doctor rushed into the reception room. 

“L-Lord Vader.” He blinked quickly.

“Mend my son immediately.” Luke's hair began to drip, the doctor nodded quickly and motioned for a nurse to bring a gurney.

“Father, I am scared…” He clung to Vader's cape, the doctor brought over a gurney, Vader laid him down gently. Luke held onto his cape, 

_“It will be alright, my son.” He sent through their bond._

Luke looked at him nervously, Vader sent ease through their bond, relaxing Luke. The doctors rushed him back, Vader clenched his fists tightly, he wouldn’t lose Luke, he can’t.

* * *

An hour passed, but not for a second did Vader stop pacing the waiting room. The people in the waiting room eyed in fearfully the whole time, he did not care. The doctor eventually came out, Vader stormed to him.

“How is my son!?” Vader had lost his patience soon after the doctors took Luke away, he had to know if his son was alright.

“Y-yes he is, it was only a scratch, his head is wrapped up. You will just need to change the bandage tomorrow. Cuts in the head tend to bleed a lot more than other parts of the body. He is good to leave now”

He will be alright, everything he worried about dissipated away. “Take me to him.” 

“Right away, my Lord.” The doctor led Vader back behind the Emergency Room doors, down the hall and eventually stopped in front of a room. Vader entered and saw Luke sat on a bed, his head wrapped in a white bandage. His hair stuck out around the top, he looked at Vader and smiled.

“Luke.” He breathed as he moved to his side.

“You were right, everything is alright!” Luke cheered while he held a lollipop. “I am sorry if I messed up the party..” he suddenly looked sad.

“You did not mess up the party Luke, you do not need to be sorry.” Vader paused, “I am just relieved you are alright.”

“Can we go home please?” He shifted anxiously in the bed. 

“Yes, we may go.” 

Luke crawled out of his bed, he almost lost his balance but quickly recovered. Luke grabbed onto Vader's cape and followed Vader out of the hospital.

“Well that wasn’t as fun as I thought it was gonna be but I made a lot of friends and played games..” Luke continued to tell Vader all about his evening on the way back to their home, Luke could chatter for hours and Vader could listen to him the whole time.


	4. Career Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seven year old Lukes class has Career Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the love! I am glad you guys like it! Soon I will add mini archs, some will be serious but will still be fun.

"Alright class, remember to give these to your parents." Luke's teacher, Miss Vondell, said as she handed slips of paper to each student. Luke took the slip and looked at it, it read.

_2nd Grade Career Day_

_Invite your parents to tell_

_The class about their Career!_

Luke looked at it intrigued and shoved it in his backpack. "Career day is tomorrow, sign your name down if you plan on having one of your parents come." Miss Vondell said as she pulled a datapad from her desk and handed it to a child in the first row. As the datapad was being passed from kid to kid Luke considered what he should do.

Now if Luke was honest, he was really even sure what his father did everyday. He knew it was really important for the Empire though, and his father was in line for the throne. Luke never got specifics though, so maybe he could find out by bringing him here.

Once the datapad got to him, he decided to write his name down. His father was busy, but hopefully he would come. Soon after the class was dismissed, Luke grabbed his bag as his friend Aaron came up to him.

"I signed my name, hopefully my father has time to come." Aaron sighed, "But my dad is always busy at work." Aaron had told Luke once before his father was a Grand Moff, he wasn't too sure what that meant though.

"I know what you mean.." Luke grumbled to himself, they walked out to the speeders and Luke saw his pick up. "Alright well, I'll see you tomorrow." He smiled, his friend waved him goodbye as he boarded the speeder.

His father's Lieutenant picked him up, Lieutenant Lekauf, "Well how was your day at school?" He asked as they joined the Coruscanti traffic.

Luke shrugged, "It was okay I guess." He pulled out the career day form, "Our teachers gave us this, I was wondering if maybe my father could come." He eyed the paper skeptically.

"Uhh your father?" The lieutenant leaned over to see the paper, "Career day?!" He asked, shocked.

"Yeah, but I don't really even know what he does." Luke huffed and shoved the paper back in his bag.

Lekauf laughed awkwardly, "I don't know Luke, your father is a pretty busy man."

"Well..maybe he will come" Luke whispered as he looked out of the speeder looking over the city.

They made it back to their home, one of the biggest buildings in Coruscant, the tallest was the Emperors of course. The speeder landed in the hangar bay, Luke jumped out of the speeder and pulled the strap of his backpack over one of his shoulders. Luke then felt a hand rest on his other shoulder, "I have some work to do, but if you need me you'll know where I'll be." Lekauf walked off into one of the offices in the hangar, Lekauf spent most of his day down here.

Luke entered the turbolift and rubbed his eyes as he rose to his fathers personal level, he was tired and planned on taking a nap until his father got home. Once the lift door opened, he could sense his father wasn't home yet. He walked down the hall, passed the sitting area and kitchens and eventually made it to his bedroom. His bedroom was rather large and was fitted with a view port looking over the city. Luke dropped his bag on the floor and slumped on his bed and was quickly back to sleep.

* * *

A couple hours passed when his eyes fluttered open, he slowly sat up in his bed and stretched. He then felt his fathers force presence brush up against his, his father was home. Luke jumped off his bed and ran out of his room, "Father!" He celebrated when he saw his father walk out of the turbolift. He stopped in front of him, his father tousled his hair.

"Hello Luke."

"Hello Father!" He stood there excitedly.

"How was your day at school, my son?"

"Oh!" Luke darts off to grab his bag, leaving his father, "Wait right there!" He yells from across the apartment. Luke snagged his bag from the floor and pulled out the career day paper then ran back and bumped into his father who was walking down the hall.

Luke stepped back and rubbed his forehead and pouted, "You didn't wait.." He whined, his father sighed.

"Follow me." His father said as he continued through the apartment, Luke followed close behind.

"Where are we going?"

"The conference room, I have work to finish, you may finish what you were telling me in there."

Luke followed his father down the hall and entered the conference room, a large black glossy table stretched the room along with a view of the city. His father moved to the end of the conference room table where a stored pile of datapads lay, his father picked up one of them and looked through it.

"Now what was it you would like to tell me?"

Luke blinked at him a couple times, "Well, I wanted to ask what you do for work?" There was a pause, his father slowly set down the datapad.

"Why are you interested in what I do for work?" Luke moved over towards his father and handed him the paper. "Career Day." His father said slowly.

"Yeah, I signed up so that maybe you could.." Luke paused, looked at him pleadingly, "Please come to class?" His voice grew small as he continued the sentence, it sounded more outrageous said out loud then in his head.

"You want me to go to your classroom to tell them my job?" His father placed his hands behind his back and walked towards Luke.

Luke rocked back and forth on his feet, "Uh- yes." He gave a small smile.

"Luke." He paused, "My job is incredibly busy, I am afraid I will not have time to go to your school."

"But father, please!" Luke begged, "I'll never ask for anything again I swear!"

"I highly doubt that."

"No, it's the truth! Please father! You don't have to be there long!"

"Luke-"

"Please!"

His father stood there silently, his arms crossed and looked down at Luke. Luke held his hands together, looked up begging.

"Fine, I shall attend, but I cannot be there long."

"Yay!" Luke jumped and hugged his father, his father stiffened then patted Luke on the head. Luke jumped back, "Thank you!"

"Of course, my son." His father moved back to grab his datapads and began to work through them again. Luke walked out of the conference room, he wasn't sure what his father was going to say to his class but Luke was excited anyways.

* * *

"I can't believe your father agreed to come." Lieutenant Lekauf laughed.

"It was hard, but I was able to convince him." Luke smiled, Lekauf shook his head with a wide grin.

"That sure is gonna be an interesting Career Day." Luke looked at him curiously, he was aware some people might be afraid of his father. That his appearance made people kinda scared, but they didn't know him. They didn't know that he was a good father, no, the best father.

Lekauf landed the speeder on the landing pad, Luke jumped out. "Have a good day Luke!" Lekauf waved, Luke waved back and ran into his school. Luke ran to his class, he saw his friend at his desk and Luke walked over.

"Did you get your father to come?" Luke asked as he sat on the desk next to Aaron.

"Yeah I did, I am surprised he agreed though."

"That's good, I was able to get my father to come too." Luke smiled.

"What does your dad do anyways?" Aaron asked, turning in his seat to face Luke. Luke looked at him curiously, he thought everyone knew who his father was. Before Luke could answer Aaron, Miss Vondell moved to the front of the classroom, "Alright class, welcome to career day! But before we begin, I want to hand out this worksheet." There was an audible groan in the class as the paper was passed around, "I just want you to write down what career you found most interesting and why."

Luke grabbed the paper and rested his chin on his hand, he then began to wonder what he would like to do when he gets older.

* * *

"Well I would say, working well with others, quick thinking, and planning ahead are skills I use most for my job." The man smiled to the class, Miss Vondell sat up from behind the desk and clapped her hands together.

"Well class why don't we give Admiral Halcyon a round of applause." She smiled widely, the class clapped then one of the girls stood up.

"Bye daddy!" She waved, Admiral Halcyon waved back as he smiled, he shook the teachers hand and walked out of the classroom. As Miss Vondell grabbed a datapad to announce whose parent was gonna speak, Luke felt his father's force presence. Luke smiled, he was here, Luke couldn't believe it.

"Alright, next up is…" Her smile slowly faded. "Luke Skywalker." She breathed in disbelief. Luke smiled brightly, his teacher looked up from the datapad, looking at Luke. "Uhm, is your father really coming Luke?"

"Yeah, he is here!"

She stared at him, her mouth agape, she was about to say something when the sound of a respirator hushed the classroom. Luke practically jumped in his seat when he saw his father walk into the classroom. All the kids gasped, Miss Vondell slowly stepped away from his father. Behind Luke, he heard some of his classmates whisper ' _Darth Vader'_

"Hello children." His father's deep voice broke the silence, "I am Luke's father." Miss Vondell stared at him, her eyes were wide. The room stayed silent, "Are you planning on asking me something or are we going to stand in silence?" Vader turned to the teacher.

"Oh uh-" She said awkwardly, she moved to grab her datapad and gulped. "Yes- let's start with a couple questions." Her eyes scanned the datapad, she mouthed the words she was reading, desperately finding a question. "Uh- W-Why don't you tell the class what the title of your job is."

"I am the Commander of the Imperial Navy and the Emperors enforcer." He crossed his arms as Miss Vondell scrolled through the datapad.

"Uhm..What does a typical work day look like?" She gripped the datapad tightly, her knuckles white and slightly shaking. Kids in the classroom still stared in shock, Luke didn't seem to notice though, he watched his father in awe.

"My work day varies, but I commonly oversee important Imperial missions given by the Emperor and assist running the Empire." Luke thought this answer was somewhat vague but didn't care, he was too excited to see his father at his school.

"What led you to your current career?" Miss Vondell asked in a shaky voice, his father was silent for a moment.

"I do not think it would be wise for me to divulge that information to children." Some kids gasped, Luke twisted his face in confusion.

"O-Of course Lord Vader." She looked through the datapad again. "What kind of interest, skills, and abilities help you in this career?"

"The ability of the force." Is all his father said, the teacher nodded slowly.

"Well." The teacher forced a smile, "I think that is enough questions for Lord Vader." She laughed awkwardly, but before she could speak more Luke shot his hand in the air.

"But the class didn't get to ask questions yet!" Luke furrowed his brows, wondering why his father's interview was shorter than the others. The teacher froze, held her breath, and darted her eyes between Vader and Luke.

"Lord Vader, if you don't want to-" His teacher began but was cut off.

"I am willing to answer a question or two."

Luke smiled softly, he looked around the room, all the kids were still pretty shocked. Luke decided to raise his hand.

"Luke, what would you like to ask?" His father asked.

"What is your favorite part of the job?" Luke asked practically jumping in his seat, his father considered this question for a minute.

"I suppose piloting in my TIE."

Luke sat back in his desk, content with the answer. There was a moment of silence, when one of Luke's classmates slowly raised their hand.

"What would you like to ask?" His father asked the boy with the raised hand. The boy lowered his hand and sucked in a breath.

"What is it like to work with the Emperor?" The boy's voice was small, the was a gap of silence.

"It is an… honor." His father answered slowly.

After another few moments of silence Miss Vondell spoke up."Alright well, I think that about wraps it up."The teacher said, "Class… why don't we give Lord Vader a round of applause." The kids clapped, but Luke clapped the fastest.

"Goodbye Luke." His father said then quickly walked out of the room, suddenly he heard sighs of relief. Luke then felt a tug on his school uniform jacket, it was his friend Aaron, Luke looked over at him curiously.

"What is it?" Luke asked, his friend looked at him shocked.

"You never told me your father was Darth Vader!" He whispered, Luke shrugged, he never found a point to say anything. Anyways, usually people already knew his father was Darth Vader. He knew his father's job was important, Luke sometimes had to go to important Imperial events.

"I am sorry I thought you knew, I was gonna tell you but the teacher started talking."

Luke just laughed at his friend's response to finding out, his teacher sighed. "I need to go get a drink of water, I'll be right back in class." She walked out rubbing her temples. Luke sighed, guess there will be more job presentations.

* * *

When Luke was dropped off home in the hangar bay by Lekauf, he felt his father's force presence. Luke entered the turbolift to get to his father's personal level, once the lift doors opened he darted down the hall and turned into his father's conference room.

"Father!" Luke cheered as he dropped his backpack on the floor, his father put down the datapad he was working on and walked up to Luke. "Thank you so much for coming!"

"You're welcome, my son."

"Out of all the jobs yours was one of the coolest I think." Luke sat down on one of the conference room chairs.

"One of?" His father asked, "Was there another equally impressive occupation?"

"Well, one of the parents was a pilot, which I thought was pretty cool too." Luke smiled.

"A pilot?" Amusement rolled off his father from the force, "Would you like to be a pilot?"

Luke shrugged, "I dunno, maybe." His father ruffled Luke's hair.

"You will do well in anything you choose, my son." Luke smiled and pulled out his homework from his bag while his father went back to working on his datapad. Before Luke began his work, he considered how he still wasn't too sure what his father did. Right now he didn't care, right now he was glad he was his father. The two worked in the conference room together for the next hour until Luke fell asleep on the conference room table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked it! Please let me know what you guys thought! I am writing a lot of this cause I love Imperial Luke!


	5. Founding of the Empire Play Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eleven-year-old Luke is planning on being in his school's play

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this is a two-parter, it was a lot longer then I thought it was gonna be. I hope you like it!

Lukes's head lay on his bedroom desk, his hand was on the datapad he was once reading for class. He had fallen asleep while working on an assignment, he was sleeping peacefully until someone entered the room.  “Luke.” It was a deep modulated voice said.

“Ahh!” Luke jumped awake, his eyes frantically looked around and landed on his father who was standing in the doorway. 

“Did you sleep at your desk all night?” His father asked as he placed his hands on his belt. Luke ran his hands through his hair, his eyes wide.

“I slept here all night!? It's morning now!?” How had he fallen asleep here?

“Yes it is the morning, you must hurry if you wish not to be late for school.” Luke jumped out of his seat frantically. He rifled through the pile of clothes on his floor and grabbed a clean pair of his school uniform and ran into the attached refresher in his room. 

He quickly changed into his uniform and bounced out as he was trying to put on one of his shoes. “I guess I fell asleep on my desk, I was so exhausted yesterday.” Luke balanced on one foot as he put on the next shoe.

“Yes, I remember how exhausting being eleven was.” His father folded his arms over his chest.

“Ha ha.” Luke said mockingly as he swung his backpack over his shoulder and walked up to his father who still stood in the doorway. “Did you want to tell me something?”

“Your school is putting on a performance at the end of the week.” Luke looked at his father in confusion.

“You mean a play?”

“Yes.” 

“What about it?” Luke asked.

“The Emperor has requested for you to be a part of it.”

“What!? Why!?” Luke asked, in Lukes's humble opinion, plays were stupid. Well, technically the only _plays_ he had been to were at the Opera house. Every time he would fall asleep on his father or in his chair. 

“The play is about the founding of the Empire, he would like it for you to be involved. He believes it would be good for the public to see you taking active admiration in the subject.”

Luke groaned, “Ugh, I don’t want to be in a play.” He moped, he passed his father through the doorway and made his way down the hall, his father followed.

“It was a decision made by the Emperor, not me.” 

“I know.” Luke sighed as he stood in front of the turbo-lift.

“Have a good day at the academy, Luke.” Luke smiled up at his father and entered the lift, it descended to the hangar bay where he saw Lieutenant Lekauf. Luke ran out, his footsteps echoed through the large hangar as he made it to the speeder.

Lekauf sat in the pilot's seat, Luke flung the speeder door open and threw his backpack in and Lekauf looked at him with wide eyes. “Where have you been? We are running late!” Luke quickly jumped in the speeder and Lekauf lifted the speeder quickly out of the hangar before Luke could buckle. Luke deflated in the seat.

“I fell asleep on my desk.” Luke rolled his head around, “I think I have a cramp in my neck.” he mumbled.

“On your desk?” Lekauf laughed, “Geez, you must have been tired.”

“Yeah well, ya know, being an eleven year old is exhausting.” Luke shrugged, Luke looked out over the speeder the rest of the way to his school. Once Lekauf landed the speeder, Luke jumped out and yawned. “Goodbye Lekauf.” Luke waved, Lekauf waved back with a smile and lifted the speeder. 

Luke walked into his school and walked up to his locker, he swung the door open and put some of his datapads in his locker. He felt a tap on his shoulder, Luke slammed the locker shut and turned around. It was his friend Aaron, “Hello Luke!”

Luke smiled, “Hey Aaron.” Luke walked down the hall to their first class, Aaron caught up to him and looked at Luke concerned.

“Is something wrong Luke?” Luke shook his head.

“No, I just had terrible sleep last night an-” Before Luke could continue he saw the signup sheets for the play, it was a paper pinned to the wall. 

_ Imperial City Academy Presents… _

_ The Founding of the Empire! _

_ Auditions during Lunch _

_ Sign your name down below _

_ 5th and 6th Graders only _

“During lunch!” Luke whined, “They want me to act on an empty stomach!?” Luke shoved his hand in his backpack looking for a pen.

“Are you going to apply for the play?” Aaron laughed, “I didn’t know you like plays.” 

“I  _ don’t _ ” Luke stated as he wrote his name down for auditions, “But the Emperor wants me to do it.” 

“The Emperor!?” Aaron said in a hushed whisper, “Why does he want you to?” 

“Something about looking good for the Empire.” Luke shrugged as he clicked his pen and dropped it in his bag. “We should get going or we are gonna be late.” Aaron nodded in agreement and they both walked off to class.

* * *

Class had ended, and usually, he would make his way over to the lunchroom, but today he had to audition for this stupid play. He parted ways with Aaron and walked down the hall to the auditorium, he had been here a couple of times for school announcements but that's it. The doors to the auditorium swooshed open.

It was large, rows of chairs filled most of the space and at the end of the room was a large stage with a large red curtain with a gold lining. Luke walked down the steps towards the stage, sitting around the first couple rows were kids holding a thick stack of papers reading intently. Luke made it to the end when an adult woman walked up to him. Luke recognized her as the school Director for Performing Arts, Mrs. Dellian.

“Are you auditioning for the school play?” She asked as she adjusted her glasses. Luke nodded, she pulled a packet of papers out from under her shoulder and handed it to him. “Read over some lines, when I call your name you will act them out on stage for me." She smiled.

“What characters are there?” Luke asked as he eyed the script and thumbed through the pages, Luke looked up but she had walked away already. Luke shrugged and squeezed into one of the seat rows and slumped down. He looked through the pages, he glazed over the many lines until his eyes caught on a word. No, not just a word, a name,  _ Darth Vader _ .

Luke grew a small smile, his father was in the play? He could play his father? Luke couldn’t help but laugh softly, seeing someone act out his father would be interesting. Luke flipped through the script some more.

Mrs. Dellian began to call out student names, Luke recognized some of the kids as they acted out scenes from the play. Luke found people trying to act out his father particularly interesting, a smile formed as students attempted to play his overly formal overdramatic father. “Luke Skywalker!” Mrs. Dellian called out, Luke suddenly felt nervous. He hadn’t felt anxiety for auditioning up and till now, maybe because he had been making fun of this play the whole time. But now it was here, and real, and kids from his school were watching him as he walked up onto the stage. 

He stood center stage, he gripped the script tightly and felt his heartbeat rise. He looked out over the small crowd nervously, all watching him. 

“You may start your audition” Mrs. Dellian said as she wrote something down in her datapad. Luke walked up to the stage mic and let out a breath. He nodded to her, Luke’s heart thumped rapidly. He closed his eyes and spit outlines from the script, he acted the scenes out he had memorized and did the best he could. 

After he finished he did a small awkward bow and looked back out over the stage, kids who sat in the auditorium clapped like they did after every audition. Luke awkwardly smiled as Mrs. Dellian wrote something down on her datapad.

“We will call you later this evening if you got the part.” She said as she slid her glasses up her nose, Luke nodded and hopped off the stage. He walked up the auditorium and left, hopefully he had enough time to eat something for lunch. 

When Luke finally made it to the lunchroom he saw Aaron who was packing up to leave, Luke ran up to him. “Is lunch over already?” Luke asked as he checked his chronometer, turns out lunch had just ended. “Stars, I haven’t eaten anything today,” Luke grumbled and followed Aaron back to class.

“Anything!?” Aaron gasped, Luke shook his head solemnly. Aaron pulled his backpack around and shuffled through his bag and pulled out a nutrition bar. “Here, maybe this will help.” Aaron smiled. 

“Thank you Aaron, you're a lifesaver.” Luke took the bar and took a small bite, it was dry and not that good, but he was hungry enough to eat it. Luke and Aaron made it back to their class and tried their best to pay attention. 

* * *

Luke sat in the speeder with Lekauf, he held the script to the play in his hands, his eyebrows furrowed. “Is something wrong Luke?” Lekauf asked.

"I am just worried about this stupid play." His eyebrows furrowed.

"You auditioned to be in the play!?" Lekauf perked up, Luke nodded slowly. "Well, what are you so worried about?"

“What if I am cast as a tree or something?” Luke slumped down in his seat.

“Ever heard of the saying,  _ no small roles, only small actors _ ?” Lekauf offered, Luke nodded.

“Yeah, I guess you're right.” Luke smiled, “I just want to get a good part.” Luke didn’t expect to have fun when he auditioned, and even though he was incredibly nervous, he had more fun then he expected.

“When did you start getting into plays?” Lekauf smiled, Luke shrugged. " You think you did well?”

“I mean, I don’t know.” Luke laughed awkwardly, “I’ve never acted before.”

“I am sure you did well.” Lekauf smiled, and they chatted about the play the rest of the way back to home. Once they landed in the hangar bay Luke ran to the turbo-lift, the lift doors closed and slowly ascended. Once Luke got to his floor he wandered over to the sitting room, which had large couches and side tables and a large viewport. 

He sat his backpack on one of the couches when his com started going off, Luke answered it quickly. “Hello?”

“Hello, is this Luke Skywalker?” A female voice asked.

“Yes.” Luke slumped on the couch.

“Hello, this is Mrs. Dellian, I just wanted to let you know you got a part in the school play!” She sounded excited, Luke shifted on the couch anxiously. A smile grew slowly, a part! He got a part!

“Oh thank you! Uh- what's the part?” 

“You got Darth Vader of course!”  _ Darth Vader _ , he got Darth Vader, his father. Yes! He got a really good part and he got his father, which he could play easily enough. He lived with the guy, he knew how he acted better than anyone.

“Thank you!” Luke smiled.

“Practice will be after school every day until this weekend, which is when the play will show. So make sure to study your lines!!” Her enthusiasm was clear over the com.

“Okay, thank you so much again!” The com cut and Luke quickly whipped out his script for the school play. He pulled out a pen from his bag and began to underline all his lines, after a few minutes he sat back nervously.

“So many lines…” He mumbled, he knew his father was a major part of the Empire but how was he supposed to memorize all of this!? Luke stood up from the couch and walked around his home reading his lines. He held the script tightly and stared at it with intensity, he was going to be delivering these lines in front of the whole school.

He lapped his house over and over while reading his lines, his eyes started to grow tired from reading his lines over and over. When he was making his final lap he ran into a large figure, Luke looked up, it was his father.

“What are you doing?” His father asked, Luke blinked and looked around the home, he saw the sun was setting. He had been at this for a long time, he had no idea how much time had passed. Luke looked back at his father, then down at his script.

“I was reading my lines.” Luke yawned.

“So you got a part in the performance?” Luke perked up slightly.

“Oh yeah, I did! I'm gonna play you!” Luke laughed.

“I suppose I prefer my own son portraying me then someone else.” Luke smiled, "Congratulations on getting a roll in the performance, my son." Luke beamed at his father's praise, he then checked his chronometer. 

“Stars, I should get something to eat. I haven’t eaten like, all day.” He laughed and was about to walk away when his father put a hand on his shoulder.

“You have not eaten all day!?” His father asked Luke, Luke turned around to face him.

“Yeah, I just forgot, I mean I had a nutrition bar earlier.” Luke shrugged, “Come to think of it, it tasted expired.” Luke mumbled.

“Expired!?” 

“Yeah, it tasted pretty bad, but it was better than nothing.” His father made a sound which Luke interpreted as a sigh.

“I do not want my son going around starving!” Luke deflated slightly.

“Okay, okay- I’ll get something to eat now, don’t worry.” Luke smiled, “I’ll eat something while I read over my lines. Kill a bird with two stones- or something.”

“Its,  _ Kill two birds with one stone _ .” His father corrected. 

"Well, you get what I mean." Luke smiled "Hey can I practice my lines on you when the play gets closer?"

"Yes, if you think it would help." Luke smiled at his father then walked off to his room. He ordered something to eat on a panel by his door and sat on his desk, hopefully, he won’t fall asleep here like the previous night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked it! Please let me know what you thought! I love this fic so much and I hope people are also enjoying it


	6. Founding of the Empire Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lukes play is tonight!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final part for the Empire play, I hope you guys like it!

His alarm in his room blared loudly, Luke slapped the alarm to turn it off with a groan. He rose in his bed, he rubbed his eyes and sat in his bed for a few minutes. His brain slowly adjusted to being awake, Luke knew today was the day of the play.  Luke had been attending practice after school every day and was incredibly excited and nervous for the performance this evening. He did not think he would like being in a play was this much fun, or pretending to be his dad. Luke quickly got dressed for school and ordered something to eat, once he got his food he walked into the conference room and sat his food down on the table.

His father stood at the other end of the table, Luke sat in one of the chairs and began eating. “I have to go early to the auditorium today,” Luke told his father.

“The performance is this evening, correct?” His father asked, Luke nodded and downed his juice.

“You are coming to see the play right?” Luke asked hopefully, he knew his father was busy but Luke has been working hard on this all week. 

“Yes, I will be attending.” Luke beamed, “As will the Emperor.” Luke's eyes widened.

“What!” Luke felt suddenly incredibly nervous, the Emperor, he had never liked him. “Why does he want to watch my school play?”

“I believe the academy had asked him to view, as this play is done in his honor. When he discovered I was attending he decided to accompany me” His father put down the datapad he was working in. Luke felt a pang of nervousness but attempted to hide it, even if his father could read his emotions.

“You aren’t going just ‘cause the Emperor is going right?” Luke asked in a small voice, looked up hopefully at his father. 

“I had already planned on attending before they asked the Emperor to view the performance.” His father placed his hands behind his back.

“Really!?” Luke smiled and sat up in his chair.

“Yes, I wouldn’t miss it, you have worked hard on this.” His father stated matter of factly, Luke smiled to himself, he appreciated that his father had noticed how hard he worked more than he would know. Luke quickly finished his breakfast and ran off to the turbo-lift which brought him down to the hangar bay. He entered the speeder Lekauf was sitting in and went off to the school. He would be at the auditorium all day.

* * *

Luke had waved Lekauf goodbye and ran down the halls of his school towards the auditorium. The halls were decorated head to toe with Imperial flags and decorations. The doors to the auditorium slid open and Luke heard a commotion of kids talking or some reciting their lines. Luke ran down the auditorium towards the stage, which was fitted with props.  “Oh good Luke, you're here!” Mrs. Dellian smiled, “Go put on your costume okay?” Luke ran behind the stage, his costume didn’t have a mask, as that would be a  _ safety hazard _ or something to that effect. So he wore a black outfit with a long black cape, which was equipped with a hood. Just then he heard someone enter backstage, Luke turned around and saw it was Daro Vancil, the lead of the show. He was playing the Emperor. He also wore a black robe too but was lined with red to differ from Lukes's robe.

“Hey Luke, you memorized all your lines right?” Daro asked, stepping towards him. “I don’t want you embarrassing me in front of my family.” Luke took a step back and blinked in shock.

“Uh- yeah, I did,” Luke said, slightly annoyed at Daro. He had been a pain since the first practice, he had never met someone so snobbish, well maybe except the Emperor. He was a perfect fit to play him in the show.

“Good, just don’t mess up out there!” Daro pointed at Luke, Luke huffed and was about to reply to Daro when the assistant director came in, Mr. Felis. Luke had never expected someone directing an elementary school play to take such things so seriously. Mr. Felis wanted everything perfect, like his reputation was on the line. 

“Ahh, look, it's my two stars! Getting along I hope?” Mr. Felis said as he clapped his hands together, Mr. Felis had just arrived on set for the first time the other day ago. He was trying to be as friendly to the kids as possible. Daro then wrapped an arm around Lukes's shoulder and smiled widely.

“Oh, of course Mr. Felis, me and Luke are best pals!” Daro shook Luke slightly, attempting to display a close friendship between the two. Luke wiggled out of Daro’s grasp, Daro huffed and readjusted his cape as Luke made his way to Mr. Felis

“Mr. Felis, can I ask something about the script?” Luke asked Mr.Felis furrowed his brows and his friendly demeanor vanished. He placed his hands on his hips and looked down at Luke, glaring at him slightly.

“What is it uh-?” He snapped his fingers and squeezed his eyes tightly, “What's your name kid?” 

“L-Luke” He was taken aback by the man's new demeanor, Luke took a small step back, distancing himself from the man.

“Okay,  _ Luke _ , what's the line?” Mr. Felis looked annoyed as if Luke was wasting his time. Luke pulled out the script and flipped through the pages until he landed on the line he was worried about.

“Uhm, so I am supposed to say  _ I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to our new Empire _ to the Emperor. But I don’t think that my fa-” Luke was quickly cut off.

“I have, under good authority, that Darth Vader actually said those lines. If you wanted to change those lines, you would want to be changing history.” Mr. Felis gave Luke a disapproving stare, Luke didn’t know if Mr. Felis was telling the truth or not. 

“But, I-” Luke tried again, but Mr. Felis stepped in again.

“I am not sure if you are aware, but Darth Vader is actually  _ attending _ this play. Everything  _ must _ be perfect.” He stepped towards Luke, “I would hate to see what Darth Vader did to the kid that portrayed him poorly.” He hissed.

Luke stared at him shocked, he couldn’t believe what he just heard. The man did not know who Luke's father was, Luke wasn’t surprised though about that. His father had been able to successfully keep Luke's image out of public eyes. While his school knew, high Imperial society knew, Luke wasn’t all too sure if people knew what he looked like.

“I-uh-uhm..” Luke kept sputtering out sounds, trying to spit out a response but was still so shocked. 

“This has been the script for eleven years, so just stick to the script, okay kid?” Mr. Felis sighed, “Stars, I need something to drink..” He mumbled to himself, he snapped his fingers, and a child near him brought him a water bottle. Mr. Felis walked off chugging his water, Luke stood there befuddled. 

Luke sighed and threw the hood from his cape over his head and walked out on stage, the lights from the stage were hot and blinding. He squinted his eyes to adjust, he saw Daro waving his cape around absentmindedly then quickly stopped when he saw Luke on stage. 

Luke and Daro went over lines from the script, Mr. Felis eyed the two and critiqued them. He made them do scenes over and over again, it was exhausting. Ever since Luke asked to critique a line, Mr. Felis had been pretty rude to Luke. But he did his best to ignore him, Luke focused on the play and doing his best,

* * *

The sun was setting on Coruscant, Luke had been gone a majority of the day working on the play. Vader was currently on his way to Luke's academy, the performance would be beginning soon. The Academy performed this play often, and every time they invited Vader and the Emperor, and every time they both denied the invitation.

The only reason Vader was going was that Luke was in the play, Vader worried that was the reason the Emperor was going as well. The Emperor's sudden interest in Luke had not gone unnoticed, first, he wanted Luke to be in the play and now he was going to watch him. Perhaps the Emperor was attempting to gain Lukes's trust, to try and appear that he cared about Luke, only to use Lukes's emotions against him later.

Vader would protect Luke, make sure the Emperor could not hurt him. He would be a step ahead, but that could be put off for later. Right now he must attend his son's play, Vader landed his shuttle on one of the landing pads. He walked down the exit ramp from his shuttle, he entered the school.

Once he entered he saw the Emperor surrounded by praetorian guards, Sidious turned around and grinned. “Lord Vader, you finally made it.” Vader bowed at Sidious, “Shall we make our entrance?” Sidious laughed.

Sidious and his guards began to make their way to the auditorium, Vader followed next to Sidious. They entered the auditorium, which once was buzzing with parent activity and talking was silenced. Then they saw two adults make their way to them, one Vader recognized as the Headmaster.

“Thank you so much for attending Emperor and Lord Vader.” The headmaster bowed, the second man next to him bowed as well. “We are eternally grateful, this man next to me is the director, Gil Feris.” 

Feris shot his hand out towards Vader, perhaps wanting a handshake, “Commence with the performance at once, Headmaster. Do not waste my time.” Vader said, Feris dropped his hand quickly and the Headmaster tensed, Vader could feel their fear rise through the force. 

“At once, Lord Vader.” Feris’s voice was shaky, he rushed down the auditorium and the Headmaster quickly followed. The lights of the auditorium lowered, the stage lit up and kids rolled out onto the stage. He then felt Lukes signature find Vader’s, Vader met with Lukes's signature and Luke’s mood rose and felt overjoyed. 

It was only 20 minutes in when the Emperor decided to leave, Vader knew he was not going to stay during the whole play. He desperately did not care about kids, neither did Vader, he was only here for Luke. Vader folded his arms over his chest, staring at the stage from the back of the auditorium. 

He then saw his son come on stage, Luke was grinning, though that was not really true to the character he was portraying. Luke tried his best to straighten his grin, to look serious, but Luke glanced over the stage and his eyes landed on Vader, his smile grew. 

Luke was nervous, he was practically screaming it into the force, but hid it well in his performance. Luke was the only good part of the performance, he watched Luke perform on stage. Vader couldn’t care less about the scenes when Luke wasn’t on stage, but thankfully Luke was playing a major character. 

The pay was not long, it was about an hour-long but hit the major points of the founding of the Empire. Vader stood in the back of the auditorium, waiting for his son so they could leave. Parents walked up the auditorium with their children, though they all kept their distance from him. Soon though an unwelcome sight came towards him, director Felis. 

The closer Felis got the more rigid he became but attempted to keep his cool, he stood about a meter away from Vader. “I hope that the play was to your liking, Lord Vader.” He smiled weakly.

“It was adequate.” Vader towered over the scrawny man.

“I hope the child that portrayed you was able to do you justice,” Felis swallowed hard, “Though I do think maybe he could have had more stage presence.” Felis laughed awkwardly, was this man trying to joke around with him?

“The child who played me was the only good part of the play.” Vader stated matter of factly, “Would you bring him to me, I do not wish to wait any further.” Felis’s eyes flew open and he nodded slowly.

“Right away Lord Vader.” Felis bowed and quickly left to find Luke, the auditorium was soon empty. Eventually, he saw Felis and his son walking towards him, Felis looked bewildered and Luke had a small smile on his face. They reached Vader and Felis placed a hand on Luke's shoulder, Vader clenched his fists. 

“This is the boy that played you in the show this evening.” He turned to Luke, “Luke, Lord Vader wanted to see you, he believed you were the best part about the show this evening.” Felis wore a weary smile.

Luke brightened up, “You really thought I was the best part!” Luke beamed, Felis looked shocked.

“That is not how you speak to Lord Vader!” Felis reprimanded, he looked at Vader apologetically. “I am so sorry for his actions Lord Vader, he is just a child after all.”

“He is  _ my _ child, and I would recommend removing your hand from him.” Vader finally said, he had enough of Felis and wanted to leave. Felis’s eyes widened and quickly detached his hand from Lukes's shoulder.

“Y-Your child- I-.” Felis stuttered, Vader sighed.

“Luke, come with me.” Vader interrupted, Felis was annoying as it is. He could not listen to him stuttering any further, he did not wish to scar his child by swiftly crushing the man. 

“M-My apologies, my Lord!” Felis quickly spit out, Vader ignored him and turned to leave.

“Bye Mr. Felis!” Luke said and followed Vader out into the school hallway. “So you really thought I was that good?” Luke smiled.

“Unquestionably, you were the best part, my son.” He sent pride through their bond, Luke smiled as he looked down to the floor.

“You think we could get some ice cream?” Luke perked up.

“Luke, it is twenty-two-hundred, it is too late for sweets.”

“Please! You said I was the best part!” Luke begged, Vader was silent for a moment, they made it out to the landing pads.

“Alright, you may get some ice cream,” Vader said as they entered Vader's shuttle, Luke jumped for joy.

“Thank you!!!” Luke celebrated.

“It is well deserved.” Vader entered the cockpit, Luke followed close behind.

“You think I could also pilot us the way there?” Luke tried to add, he smiled widely.

“Luke! You are eleven!” Vader said as he started the ignition sequence, the lights on the control panel blinked to life and the hum of the ship filled the cockpit. 

“Fine, fine, just ice cream then.” Luke laughed as he sat in the co-pilot's seat. Luke smiled as Vader lifted the shuttle, “Thank you for coming.”

“Of course, my son.” Luke sent affection through their bond, he curled up in the huge cape they gave in for the play and they both made their way to the ice cream shop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked the new update, please let me know what you thought!


	7. A Small Cough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke is four and has a cold :( Dad Vader is here!!

Preparing for a mission was hectic as it is, he had been at the Imperial City Naval Base most of the day. An insurgency on Onderon has caught the Emperor's attention, usually small Rebellion activity could be swiftly taken care of by an Imperial Agent. But the Emperor had requested that Lord Vader make quick work of them. A mission to Onderon should be quick no doubt, but it would mean leaving his four year old son.

His son had a nanny of course, but he never really liked leaving Luke behind. Vader finally landed his shuttle in his personal hangar bay, he sat up from the pilots seat and walked the stretch between the cockpit to the exit ramp. The ramp slowly lowered, steam spewed out from the ship's exhausts, Lieutenant Lekauf stood at the end of the ramp, his hand held in a salute.

“Lord Vader.” His voice stern, his face serious and still. Vader walked down the ramp, his hard foot falls echoed around the hangar. Vader walked past Lekauf, who then soon closely followed behind Vader.

“Do you have anything to report, Lieutenant.” His baritone voice usually sent shivers down any man who he spoke to, but Lekauf hid his emotions well, considering. Vader stopped in front of the turbo-lift and faced Lekauf.

“Onderon is still suffering from an insurgence, my Lord. But I have reports that General Pelleaon has troops on standby.” Lekauf said, standing tall.

“Deploy the troops, inform them I shall soon be on Onderon, the Insurgence should not last much longer from there.” The lift doors opened.

“At once, Lord Vader.” Lekauf pulled out a datapad that was tucked under his arm, he then gasped and looked back up at Vader who entered the lift. “There is one more thing, my Lord.” 

“What is it?” 

“Luke…” Lekauf choked, Vader used the force to hold the lift doors open. “He is sick, my Lord.” 

“ _ Sick? _ ” Vader asked incredulously, and the man before him deflated and slowly nodded. “Summon his pediatrician at once!” Vader demanded, the lift doors closed as Lekauf nodded quickly. Curse the lift, why did it move so slow! He needed to see his son, who had gotten him sick!?

Once the lift doors slid open, he walked down the hall quickly, his cape billowed behind him. When he neared Lukes bedroom he saw Lukes Nanny, Miss Berik, rushing from the refresher with a box of tissues. She stopped dead in the hall and stared at Vader, he felt her fear spike.

“What is wrong with Luke.” He demanded, he stormed closer to her. Her heart thumped quickly, she moved backwards slightly.

“W-When I picked him up from Pre-School, he was sick.” She sputtered, she blinked quickly.

“Why had you not informed me of this when you found out!” He pointed hard at her, she practically crumbled under his scrutiny.

“I-I did not wish to disturb you while you were working, my Lord.” She said softly

“You shall inform me of all imperative information on my son!” She sucked in her breath, staring at him in fear. 

“M-My apologies, .” She bowed to Vader, Vader sighed.

“Remain here until further instruction, Miss Berik.” 

“Of course.” Her voice was shaky, then she handed Vader the box of tissues. Vader held them in his hands, she swallowed hard. “For Luke…” She breathed. Vader took the box and pressed the control panel for Luke's room. 

Luke's room was dark except for the nightlight in the corner that glowed brightly, his child's room was like any average four year olds. He had toys, posters of shows Luke liked, his bed sheets were brightly colored. Luke laid in his bed and sniffled quietly. When Vader walked in Luke's room, blocking the light from the hall, Luke slowly sat up in his bed.

“Father…” Luke’s small voice was stuffed up from congestion, his blond hair was disheveled. Vader turned the lights on in his room, Luke's nose was slightly red. Then his son sneezed, Vader rushed over with the tissue box.

“Here.” Vader said as softly as his vocoder could let him, Luke’s tiny hand grabbed a tissue and blew.

“I don’t feel very good…” Luke pouted, “My throat hurts to..” Vader’s heart sank, his poor son was sick. Luke didn’t deserve this, he was so little. 

“I know, my son. A doctor will be here soon to check on you.” Vader said as he pushed Lukes hair back. Luke’s face grew worrisome and clutched his bed sheets.

“Doctor?” Luke asked softly, Luke was scared of doctors, all he saw were people that gave him shots or medicine. Vader sent ease through their bond, Luke reached out to hold Vader's hand. Lukes tiny hand gripped it as tightly as he could.

Vader felt Lekauf and another presence close into Luke's room, Vader turned to face the doorway and saw Lekauf and Luke's pediatrician, Dr. Russ. “Lord Vader, what seems to be the issue?” Dr. Russ asked as he moved towards Luke. Dr. Russ had been Luke's pediatrician since Luke was a baby, while he was still frightened of Vader, he had gotten used to Vaders intensity. 

“It would seem that my son has a cold.” Vader said as he moved away for Dr. Russ to look over Luke, Dr. Russ set a bag he carried in down and rummaged through it. Russ pulled out a hand held thermometer, he held it up to Lukes head and pressed a button. A screen on the thermometer beeped and flashed bright green numbers. “Ahh- well, Looks like Luke has a fever. 100.0, it's not too bad bu-” Russ was quickly cut off.

“Not too bad!?” Vader asked incredulously, to Vader, any fever his son had was bad and should be taken incredibly seriously. “Is that the normal temperature for a small boy!?” He asked sarcastically, Luke coughed into his shoulder and the doctor tensed up at Vader.

“Well- no, but it's a relatively small fever.” Russ said as he rummaged through his bag and pulled out a swab.

“I do not care how  _ small _ his fever is, he is sick and you shall take it seriously!” Vader demanded.

“I assure you Lord Vader, I am taking this seriously, I just wanted to try and put your worries at bay.” Russ turned his attention towards Luke, “You wanna tell me what's bothering you Luke?” Luke nodded slowly and sniffed.

“My throat hurts, my nose is stuffy and I just don’t feel good.” Luke’s voice was soft and pitiful, the doctor nodded sympathetically. 

“Well, from what this all sounds like, I believe you just have a cold.” Russ smiled at Luke, “But just to make sure it's not something else, I am gonna run some tests okay?” Russ’s voice came out gentle, but Luke was still scared and reached for Vader. Vader extended his hand to let Luke hold. “I promise it won’t hurt.” He chuckled.

Vader continued to send ease through their bond, Luke gripped Vader's hand, Vader kept his eyes on Luke the whole time. The doctor used the swab to swab Lukes mouth and placed it in a plastic tube. Luke coughed and pulled his covers up.

“That's it! Wasn’t too bad was it?” Russ smiled at Luke, Luke slowly shook his head. Russ pulled out a lollipop from his lab coat and handed it to Luke. “This is for being such a good patient, Luke.” Vader felt Luke brighten up slightly, Luke grabbed the candy as Russ turned to face Vader, “The rest of my equipment is out in the sitting area, I will run the tests in there.” Dr. Russ picked up his bags.

“Make it quick, Doctor.” Vader said, Dr. Russ nodded and left Lukes bedroom, Luke sniffled in his bed and Vader moved towards him. “Everything will be alright, my son.” Luke held Vader's hand tightly. 

Vader looked down at his son, he sat up in his bed, one hand holding Vaders while the other held a lollipop. Vader wasn’t too sure Luke should be having candy right now, but Vader couldn't bear taking it away from Luke. It seemed to be the only thing that slightly elevated his mood. Suddenly, Luke ripped his hand from Vaders and grabbed the closest thing to him, Vader's cape, and sneezed into it.

Luke dropped Vader's cape, then looked up to his father, “I am sorry father..” He said, Luke’s bright blue eyes looked sorrowful. Vader placed his hand on Luke's head.

“You do not need to be sorry.” Luke smiled softly then grabbed Vader's hand once again. Not long after Dr. Russ walked in holding a datapad. 

“Alright, after reviewing Lukes results, it would seem Luke just has a cold, nothing worse” Dr. Russ looked up from the datapad and faced Vader, Vader felt concern grow and frustration. He couldn’t make the cold go away from Luke, there was nothing Vader could do.

“What would you advise me to do, doctor?” Vader  _ hated _ asking for help, but he needed it. He needed Luke to feel better.

“All Luke needs is rest and some medicine, which I had already sent to your Lieutenant to pick up.” Dr. Russ held his hands behind his back, Vader felt relief crash into him, his son would be okay.

“You are dismissed, Doctor.” 

“It was a pleasure, my Lord.” Dr. Russ bowed, “Good bye Luke.” Russ smiled, Luke gave him a tiny wave and Dr. Russ left. 

“Do I really have to take medicine?” Luke cried, Vader turned back to Luke.

“Yes, if you want to feel better.” Luke collapsed hard in his bed with a whine, just then his comlink went off. Vader stepped away, it was Lekauf.

“What do you have to report, Lieutenant.” 

“My Lord, General Pelleaon’s troops are depleting quickly, the insurgence is putting up more of a fight then previously anticipated.” Lekauf’s voice was nervous, this was not good news. Vader had completely forgotten about Onderons insurgence, Vader would have to leave soon to crush the rebel attack. 

He looked at Luke, who was looking at Vader solemnly. He couldn’t leave Luke, but a Star Destroyer was no place for a child. Vader could summon Lukes nanny to watch him until Vader returned, he would have to. Despite his true feelings, he could not let the Emperor think that his son came first.

“Inform the General I am on my way.” Vader said into the com.

“At once, Lord Vader,” Lekauf replied, the call was cut, Vader turned back to face Luke. He didn’t want to tell Luke he would be leaving. He wanted to stay with Luke, take care of him.

“A-Are you leaving?” Luke’s voice was small and sad, Vader stepped towards him. 

“Luke, I must leave, but I will not be long.” Vader said, though his vocoder made it difficult, he tried to sound gentle. Luke’s eyes teared up, Luke placed his face in his hands to hide his face. Vader moved to be next to Luke.

“Please don’t leave father.” Luke looked up at Vader, tears streamed down his face. What was he supposed to do? His son meant more to him then anything, then all of the Empire, then all of the galaxy. He didn’t deserve him.

Luke sniffled, perhaps he could bring Luke, just this once. He couldn’t leave his sick son, he couldn’t bear the thought of leaving him behind when he needed his father the most. Luke looked up at his father, his eyes pleading. Vader inwardly sighed, he couldn’t believe what he was doing.

“I will not leave you alone Luke, you shall come with me.” He felt Lukes spirits rise, Luke managed a small smile before he sneezed into a tissue. “Do not move.” Vader pointed at his son, he moved to exit Luke's room and walked towards the sitting area. He saw Lukes nanny looking out of the large window over the city, it was night time and the city gleamed.

“Miss Berik,” His voice cut into the silence, she turned around quickly and faced Vader. “I am required to partake in a mission in Onderon, I do not wish to part with my son in his current condition. You are to join us on the  _ Devastator _ and watch Luke while I am on the planet.” 

Berik nodded slowly in understanding, then bowed.

“Of course, lord Vader.” Her voice was quiet, her hands held behind her back.

“You are to wait in the hangar bay, Luke and I will arrive not long after you.” Berik nodded once again, grabbed the strap of a large bag she brought and wrapped it over her shoulder and passed Vader to the turbo-lift. Vader lifted his com, “Lieutenant, prepare my shuttle.”

“As you wish, Lord Vader.” Lekauf promptly responded, Vader walked back to Luke's room who was still sitting in his bed.

“Are we going to space?” Luke's voice slightly cracked and was somewhat raspy, Vader walked towards him.

“Yes, but it is for my work, not for fun. You must rest the entire time.” He could tell Luke was slightly disappointed, despite Luke being sick, Luke wanted to explore the ship. He truly was his father's son. Luke nodded slowly, “Follow me, Luke, we must leave now.”

Vader watched as his small son slowly crawled out of his bed, Luke grabbed a soft knitted blanket with yellow ducks decorating it and wrapped it over his shoulders while also snagging a small plush toy. Luke stuck his thumb in his mouth as Vader lifted his hand and the box of tissues flew into his hand. He moved to leave the room and his son followed sniffling all the way to the hangar.

Once the turbo-lift stopped and the doors smoothly opened Luke was the first to step out. Luke, more than once, almost tripped on the blanket he was dragging. Lekauf looked at Luke in surprise then at Vader, “The shuttle has been prepared, my Lord.”

“Have you acquired Luke's medicine?” Vader stopped in front of Lekauf, Luke watched the two on the side. Lukauf snapped his fingers and a P.A walked over from one of the several offices in the hangar holding a paper bag, Lekauf grabbed it and handed it to Vader. 

“I shall be bringing Luke, seeing as he is sick. Inform the crew on the  _ Devastator _ that I will be boarding, and instruct them to prepare a room in my personal wing.” Lekauf bowed.

“At once, my Lord.” Vader grabbed the bag of medicine that Lekauf held in his hands and moved to the ramp to his personal shuttle.

“Hi Lekaf!” Luke’s voice cracked, it became obvious Luke was beginning to lose his voice. Luke was still struggling to say Lekauf’s name correctly, Lekauf smiled at Luke.

“Hey Luke, how are you feeling?” Lekauf bent his knees slightly, his hands on his thighs looking down on Luke. Luke stuck out a thumbs down and shook his head.

“Not good, I am sick!” He rasped, Luke coughed into the knitted blanket, Vader tensed slightly. 

“Luke, we must leave now.” He wanted Luke to get back to resting as soon as possible, Luke stumbled up the ramp and walked ahead of Vader. As Vader and Luke walked in, Vader saw Luke's nanny sitting in the passenger lounge. 

“Hi Miss. Berik!” Luke squeaked, he walked in the passenger lounge, Berik smiled at Luke. “We are going on a big ship!” Luke smiled.

“I know,” She smiled and patted to the seat next to her. “You wanna sit here and rest?” 

“No, I wanna sit with my father!” Luke snagged at Vader's cape and held it close. Vader looked down at Luke. 

“You would get more rest if you were to sit with your nanny, Luke.” The co-pilot's seat was not as comfortable as the chairs in here. Lukes face contorted and he sniffled and tugged at his cape some more.

“No father, please let me-” Luke sneezed, “Sit with you!” Luke wiped his nose with his sleeve. Vader sighed.

“Luke, do not wipe your nose with your sleeve,” Vader instructed, “I think it would be best for you to rest back here, young one.” Vader placed his hand on Luke's head. 

“Father I want to be with you!” Luke sneezed, this time he grabbed a tissue. “Please father!” His blue orbs looked up at Vader pleading.

“You are far too young to be in the cockpit, my son.” Luke’s eyes began to tear up, his fists clenched tightly on Vader's cape. Vader sighed, “Alright Luke, you may sit with me.” He felt joy radiate off of Luke's end of the bond, Vader handed Miss Berik Lukes medicine and turned and moved to the cockpit, Luke followed close behind.

Luke happily plopped down on the co-pilot's seat and wrapped the blanket around him. Vader sat in the pilotes seat and lifted the shuttle out of the hangar. Luke at first looked at the view, amazed and a small smile appeared on his face. With the hum of the ship, Luke's fever, and being really past his bedtime, Luke began to drift into sleep.

The shuttle flew over Coruscant, the city glew below, speeder traffic criss crossed in the distance. This was not the first time Luke was in space, no, his first time was when Luke was brought to him. Luke was only a few months old, he remembered when he first laid his eyes on his bundled son. The feelings that overwhelmed him, parental instincts flooded him, anger that he missed Luke's first few months. 

Vader clutched the yoke tightly, he desperately regretted missing those months. No matter, Luke was where he belonged, with his father. The shuttle exited the atmosphere, the  _ Devastator _ grew in size the closer he got. Soon enough, a light beeped in the shuttle signaling him to enter his clearance code. He punched the code in and slowly moved the shuttle into his personal hangar bay. He gently landed and turned the ship off, he sat up from his seat and gently picked up his sleeping son.

He exited the cockpit and saw Miss Berik standing outside of the passenger lounge by the exit of the shuttle. “Follow me.” He said to Miss Berik, Vader moved to the exit and pressed a panel on the wall, the exit shuttle began to lower. Vader descended the ramp, Admiral Thorne waited at the end. Steam blew around them as Vader closed in on Thorne.

“Greetings Lord Vader, it is an honor.” Thorne bowed, Admiral Thorne did his best to not stare at the small sleeping boy, he kept a straight face.

“Admiral, prepare the ship for hyperspace to Onderon.” Vader began to move through the hangar towards an exit. Thorne did his best to keep up with Vader, but he was moving with swift intent.

“As you wish Lord Vader.” Thorne said sternly, Vader continued to move through the hangar, Miss. Berik close behind. 

“I will meet with you on the bridge, Admiral.” Vader told Thorne then quickly walked off, he did not have time to speak with anyone, he must get his son in a bed. He walked down his personal wing and stopped at the end of the hall, he turned to the door right next to his personal chambers and opened it. The room was fitted with a bed, a desk, closer and refresher, he moved swiftly to the bed and gently laid Luke down. He turned to Miss Berik.

“Watch him while I am working.” He pointed at her, she nodded quickly and he swept out of the room. Hopefully his son wouldn’t have to be on this Star Destroyer for too long.

* * *

Finally, they were on their way back to Coruscant. It had been a couple of days on the ship, but Luke settled in his room just fine. Vader wondered how they possibly struggled against the insurgence on Onderon. Vader made quick work of the Rebel scum, Vader meditated in his pod, breathing in the oxygen without laboured assistance. He stretched his lungs as he reached into the force, then he felt a bright presence move, his son.

Vader opened his eyes, thus ending his meditation. The top of his mask slowly descended and closed with a soft hiss, his pod began to lift and Vader stood within the chamber and walked out. He made his way to the door that led into the hall, he pressed the control panel and the door slid open. 

He saw his small, four year old son wrapped in his blanket, wandering down the hall. Vader moved towards him, Luke turned around and his eyes brightened and a smile appeared.

“Father!” Luke exclaimed as he ran towards him, Vader put his hands behind his back, his cape draped over his shoulders and looked at his small son.

“You are feeling better, Luke.” He stated, Luke smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, my throat doesn’t hurt anymore!” He practically jumped.

“I am glad to hear that, my son.” Luke wandered over to the viewports along the hall and stood on his tippy-toes trying to see.

“Wow look how cool!” Luke smiled, Vader thought Lukes fascination with hyperspace was amusing. It was something that space travelers grew tired of seeing, hours were spent by staring at the blue swirls out of pure boredom. 

Luke turned to face Vader, “Can you show me around the ship please?” Luke asked.

“Perhaps you should rest further Luke.” Vader said, he wanted to make sure Luke was completely better.

“I feel all better, father!” Luke insisted, Vader stared at Luke for a moment. Luke seemed to be doing a lot better, which was a relief. His voice was back as well and was no longer raspy.

“Alright, I shall give you a tour. But you  _ must _ reside by me the entire time. Do not wander off.” Vader lectured, Luke nodded excitedly. Vader felt nothing but pure joy and love radiating off of Luke's side of the bond. 

“Thank you so much father!” Luke celebrated.

“Of course, my son.” Vader led the way through the  _ Devastator _ , his small son wrapped in a blanket followed close behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked this chapter update! I really liked writing it! Please let me know what you think!


	8. First Day of School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five-year-old Lukes first day of school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short update, but I really wanted to add one before the mini arch that's coming up next. The mini arch will be semi-serious but still really wholesome and family bonding!

Vader had been up for hours, working on proposals, and was finishing up a meeting with Captain Alima. All of this mixed into a blur when it was 0700, Vader rarely got any sleep, he mostly meditated in his chamber. He walked through the hangar with the Captain who was asking for approval on a mission to Ithor. 

“If you see any vital biotech, inform my lieutenants and I shall assist in its confiscation,” Vader said as he stopped near one end of the hangar, his hands behind his back.

“Of course, Lord Vader. I shall notify you right away.” The Captain held a stern, business-like face. Not allowing his true feelings on being this close to the Sith Lord become apparent. Unfortunately for Alina, he pulsated fear into the force. Just then, he saw the turbo-lift doors slide open with a ding, his small five-year-old son walked out with a grin. He gripped his backpack excitedly as he practically skipped to them but was intercepted by his Lieutenant Lekauf.

"Luke, your father is busy right now." He heard Lekauf whisper to Luke, Luke audibly whined.

"I-Is now not a good time, my Lord?" Alima asked, Vader sighed and was about to respond when Luke wiggled away from Lekauf's grasp and ran towards his father.

“Good morning father!” Luke greeted, he looked at the other man and hovered closer towards his father. Perhaps these were one of his rare shy days.

“You are dismissed, Captain.” Vader’s baritone voice seemed to make the Captain jump, he blinked quickly a couple of times and swallowed hard.

“It was a pleasure, my Lord.” Alima bowed, looked quickly between Luke and Vader, and walked off the hangar. Vader turned to address his son and then saw Lekauf walk towards them

"I am sorry for letting him get away, my Lord" Lekauf bowed quickly, Vader raised up his hand.

"It is of no consequence, you may return to your post." Lekauf nodded and quickly returned back to his office. Vader faced his son, “What are you doing up so early, my son?” 

“It's my first day of school, remember?” Luke smiled, oh yes it was his first day of school. Vader had, unfortunately, forgotten under all the hours of work he had been assigned by the Emperor. It was when Vader really took in Luke, he wore a small formal uniform, he had been admitted to the Imperial City Academy. He would go to the best school on Coruscant, he would not settle for anything less than the best for Luke. 

“You're taking me right?” Luke asked, Vader unfortunately had work to do. With the new Ithor mission in its infancy, he would have to focus a lot of hours on this. He looked down on Luke, he was about to explain why he couldn’t drop him off, but Lukes blue eyes looked so hopeful. 

He was a Dark Lord of the Sith, in charge of the Imperial Navy, fist of the Emperor, this job required one to be strong. He has faced full-blown armies from the Rebellion, conquered enemies of the Empire. But, somehow, he folded when it came to his five-year-old son. “I will, just this once, I cannot drop you off to school every day.”

“Thank you, father!” Luke practically jumped, Vader walked over to his personal shuttle as the ramp to enter slowly descended. Luke skipped happily towards the ramp, once the ramp was fully lowered Luke climbed it. Vader followed his son, it was then when he noticed his son's backpack was tightly packed as if the zipper would burst open any second. Could they possibly need that much material for the first year of school?

Once they both entered the cockpit and the exit ramp came to a close, he sat in the pilot's seat and Luke sat next to him. Luke rested his backpack at the side of his chair, Vader examined it for a moment.

“What is inside your bag?” Vader asked as he moved the shuttle out of the hangar. Luke looked at his bag then back up at his father.

“Oh- Uhm.” Luke lowered his hand and unzipped his bag slightly, “My ducky blanket.” Luke said softly. 

“You are bringing your blanket?” Vader saw as a small bit of the blanket spill out of his bag, Luke had dragged this blanket around everywhere since he was a baby. Luke nodded with a smile, “I do not think you can bring personal belongings such as blankets to school, my son.” Luke looked up at him devastated.

“Huh?- w-why not?” Luke pulled the blanket out of the bag, held it in his lap. 

“Perhaps they view it as a distraction.” They began to near the school, Vader chose a landing pad and slowly landed the shuttle. Luke seemed to sit still in his chair, he gripped his blanket nervously. Vader ultimately knew his son was nervous, despite his eagerness to go to school earlier that morning. This blanket comforted him.

“There is no need to be nervous.” Vader stood and waited for his son to join him, Luke looked up nervously from his seat. 

“Were you nervous for your first day of school?” Luke asked in a small voice. Vader contemplated this for a moment, he had never been to school. Never had a formal education, didn’t even know how to read at Lukes's age. But he considered when he first left Tatooine, he had been nervous. Going to school and leaving your home planet were two different things altogether, but he wished to comfort his son. 

“Yes, I was. But I am more than confident that you will enjoy it.” Luke looked like he thought about his father's words for a moment,

"You really think I will like it?" His voice was quiet.

"Yes, I do." There was a moment of silence, Luke slid off of the co-pilot's seat, and set his ducky blanket on the chair.

“I don’t think I will bring it anymore.” He zipped his backpack up and threw it over his shoulder.

“Really, why not?” 

“You said I will like it, so no need to be nervous” Luke smiled and made his way to the exit ramp. Vader pressed the control panel on the wall and the ramp slowly lowered, Luke walked down and Vader followed behind. The entrance to the school was ahead. The school was tall, elegant, a school for the youth of the Empire, the best school in Imperial City. They walked towards it, Vader noticed a buzz in the force. Parents and nannies were frightened, they clearly did not expect to see Lord Vader here.

Luke stuck as close as possible to his father, he was almost hidden in Vader's cape. His attempt at small bravery by leaving his blanket was not working as well as Luke had hoped. Vader placed his hand on Luke's head, encouraging him. 

Once they reached the entrance, Vader turned to Luke. “G-Goodbye, father.”Luke was tearing up a little.

“Luke, why are you crying? It is just school, there is no need to cry.” 

“I-I am just gonna miss you, is all.” Luke sniffled, how his son grew so fond of Vader was astounding to him. Luke had such a powerful, unconditional love for his father. Something Vader had felt he did not deserve. 

“I will miss you as well,” Vader said, and it was true, he would miss him even if he would only be gone for a portion of the day. “Goodbye, little one.” Vader tousled Lukes's hair, Luke smiled at the gesture. Luke took in a deep breath and entered the school, Vader for a moment watched as his son grew distant from him. Luke turned his head, smiled and waved, and ran further down the hall. Vader wondered why no one mentioned the hardships of leaving your child at school, it wasn't something Vader had expected to feel. It was just school after all, but watching his son leave tugged at him.

Vader turned to move back to his shuttle, the parents around him kept a far distance. He entered his shuttle, his cape billowed behind him, he moved with a swift purpose. He moved to the cockpit and sat in the pilot's seat. It was an unusual feeling, he was not used to leaving Luke at a foreign place. Yes, sometimes he had to leave for missions given by the Emperor, but Luke was left safely at home. 

Vader lifted the shuttle in the air, he headed back to his home, he would be there when Luke was finished. He was sure his son would tell him all about his day, what his school was like. He would finish preparing the crew for Ithor, meet with Grand Moff Berand, and finish a pile of datapads within the time Luke was in school. 

He landed the shuttle in his hangar, he stood from his seat then looked down at the co-pilots and saw Lukes's ducky blanket. Vader reached down slowly and grabbed it and stared at it, this blanket had been Lukes since he was a baby. Since the first day Vader got Luke, it was always wrapped around the child's shoulders. He had held Luke wrapped around in this blanket, it comforted him through his short life, it was practically attached to the boy. His ability to leave it behind, even when he was nervous, led to one absolute conclusion; he was growing up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked this mini-update, I know it's not too long:( 
> 
> Anyways, let me know what you think. The mini arch will be out within the next two days!


	9. The Unmarked Box Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 12 year old Luke finds a weird cardboard box

His alarm blared in his room, Luke’s eyes fluttered open, his heart raced slightly at the jump of being awoken by his annoying alarm. Luke sat up and punched the chronometer, he rubbed his eyes and groaned. It was gonna be another boring day at school, wasn’t it? He glanced at his shoulder and saw his ducky blanket hanging off of it, if anyone from school knew he still slept with it he would never hear the end of it.

Luke let out a sigh as he changed into his school uniform and walked into the refresher to comb his hair. He walked out, ordered some food on the control panel by his bedroom door. He opened up to the force, searched for his father, he wasn’t here this morning. He must have been at the palace, Luke grabbed his food from a kitchen droid and ate it in the conference room. He hated mornings when his father was gone, they were awfully boring and he had no one to talk to.

He also needed advice on a paper about the Fall of the Republic he had to do for school, maybe his friend Aaron could help him. After he finished his breakfast, Luke jumped from the conference room seat and quickly headed towards the turbo-lift, descended to the hangar and saw Lekauf in the speeder.

“Hi!” Luke greeted, he jumped in the speeder, Lekauf quickly put down the data-pad he was reading and smiled at Luke.

“Hello Luke, how was your morning?” Lekauf asked as the speeder lifted from the hangar and made its way into the fluid stream of Coruscant's traffic. 

“Oh you know, the same, pretty boring.” Luke shrugged as he yawned.

“At least you didn’t have to file over a dozen reports.” Lekauf sighed.

“Is filing reports really that boring?” Luke asked he couldn’t imagine actively doing something was more boring then sitting and doing nothing.

“Yes, it is, if you think school is bad wait till you start a career.” Lekauf smiled, Luke looked over the side of the speeder.  _ Career _ , what did he even want to do? He wasn’t sure. 

“Come on, school is pretty bad!” Luke said.

“No no, not as bad as working.” He assured Luke, Luke sat there and debated Lekauf whether school or work was worse all the way to his school.

Once the speeder landed, Lekauf patted Luke on the back. “Have a good day at school, kiddo, and hey, I am sorry I won’t be able to fly you home from school today” Lekauf smiled, Luke shrugged.

“It's okay, Aarons father is driving me home today!” Luke waved, Lekauf had a meeting that was scheduled during the time of his pickup. He was grateful his friend's father could drive him home. Luke ran off into his school, he walked through the halls. Middle school, he had been here for the past couple of months. While the workload may have changed, the people sure didn’t. The higher up your parents were in the Empire, the more popular you were.

Unfortunately, Luke did not subscribe to this belief, he also did not care for social statuses, along with a lot of attention. That didn’t stop the students from trying to befriend him, he knew it was because of who his father was. They wouldn’t be real friends, there was also a good portion of the school who was scared of Luke because of who his father was. Luke had gotten used to that though. 

He eventually made it to his locker, his friend Aaron waited by it and smiled when Luke appeared. “Hey, Luke!” 

“Hey, Aaron.” Luke smiled, he walked up to his locker and began to enter his code. “I am struggling with an essay about the Fall of the Republic.” Luke sighed.

“It's pretty simple, you could use Democracy as one of the reasons, that's what I did at least.” Aaron shrugged, “I asked my father about it, he was there during the fall.” Aarons father was Grand Moff Arus Thalcorr, who was a General during the Republic. 

“I am thinking I am gonna ask my father to.” Luke said as he opened his locker, he gasped when he saw what was inside. A medium size cardboard box sat in the center of his locker, a box he had never seen before. Luke blinked in confusion, his friend Aaron peaked in for a view.

“What is that?” Aaron asked he scratched the back of his head. Luke looked at it curiously.

“I don’t know..” He muttered softly, “I didn’t put it here.”

“W-What if it's a bomb?!” Aaron whispered, Luke didn’t consider that. Maybe it was an attack on Luke. It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried attacking him because he was the son of Vader. 

Something buzzed around him, the force, it told him the box was safe. It encouraged Luke to look inside, see what was waiting. The buzz was so strong, like electricity, he reached out to touch it. 

“Don’t touch it, Luke!” Aaron whispered Luke didn’t seem to hear him though. This box was entrancing him, he grabbed the box and held it close to his chest. It wasn’t heavy at all, when he shook it he felt a few small items bounce around inside. But Aaron had tensed at his actions.

“It could blow up Luke!” 

“I don’t think it's a bomb,” Luke said, looking at the box curiously. 

“What's inside? Do you think we should turn it into the Headmaster?” Aaron asked Luke shook his head. 

“Maybe we will, I just want to see inside of it first.” Luke couldn’t help it, his curiosity increased as every second passed. Luke flipped open the lid to the box and saw a few disarray holos, Luke lifted one of them up. 

The holo was of a woman with brown hair, deep brown eyes, and a beautiful gown. It looked like a professional photo like she had a high up job. The next holo was the same brunette woman but she was with a blonde-haired man, he had blue eyes and was smiling with the woman. The last thing in the box was a beautiful ornate comb, gold-lined it, it looked more for decoration than actual use. 

“What is this…” Luke muttered softly, “Who is this woman?” Aaron shrugged.

“Maybe it was put in the wrong locker,” Aaron suggested, Luke shook his head. Something in the force told him so, this was meant to be his. Luke delicately balanced the box as he pulled books out from his locker and into his backpack. He then slid the box back in his locker.

“No, it's for me, I can feel it.” Luke felt utterly perplexed, why had he received this box? Who were those people? 

“The force?” Aaron asked, Luke nodded and slammed his locker shut. They both headed for class.

“Remind me to thank your dad for driving me home today.” Luke told Aaron.

“Hey, it's no problem!” Aaron laughed.

Luke couldn’t stop thinking about the box all day, why had this box been brought to him? Who were those people in the holos? He would find out soon enough, perhaps his father knew.

* * *

Luke sat restlessly in his chair, it was the final class and he was ready to dart back to his locker and grab the box. 

“Remember class, there are many reasons as to why the Republic failed, so I have no doubt your essays will be lengthy.” His teacher lectured, Luke was barely listening, he tapped his foot anxiously.

Finally, the class was called to an end, Luke jumped from his seat and moved to the exit. He ran down the school halls.

“No running!” A security droid beeped, Luke reluctantly slowed down and swiftly made it to his locker. He flung it open and the box sat there, just like he had left it. He picked up the box gentyly and turned to see his friend Aaron.

“So you're keeping the box?” Aaron asked, his eyebrows furrowed in curiosity.

“Yeah, I mean, I wanna find out who these people are.” Luke smiled, Aaron crossed his arms in disapproval.

“You have to focus on your essay, you told me you were struggling earlier this morning! You can’t focus on some random strangers in some holos.” Luke and Aaron began to walk down the halls towards the exit of the school.

“Fine, I will work on my time management later. But I am still gonna find out who they are.” Luke looked down at the box. They made it out to the speeders, Aaron led the way to his fathers. It was a really nice speeder, Luke’s eyes widened at the sight. 

“You brought out the nice speeder to school?” Aaron asked his father as he and Luke entered, Aarons father laughed. 

“Hey, if I am driving Luke home I am using my nice speeder.” Aarons's father, Arus, laughed. He has met Aarons father a couple of times before. Sometimes Luke had seen him in his father's conference room, which was somewhat awkward.

“You never take this speeder out! You don’t even let me touch it.” Aaron moped, Arus sighed. 

“Luke should be comfortable on his way home.” Luke felt awkward in his seat but ignored him by looking through his box, looking at the holos. “Whatcha got there, Luke?” Arus asked.

“Luke found this weird box in his locker.” Aaron said, “It has some strange holos in it.”

“Yeah, I don’t know who these people are.” Luke sighed and deflated slightly in his seat.

“Strange holos huh? Can I see?” Arus asked Luke hugged the box close. He was hesitant to hand over the holos but maybe Aarons's father would know who they were. Luke grabbed the holo of the woman and handed it to Arus.

Arus held onto it and looked upon the woman, “Oh I know who this is.” 

“You do!?” Luke asked he sat up excitedly in his seat. 

“Yeah, this woman right here was a senator for the Galactic Republic, her name was Padme Amidala.” Arus held the holo up for both Aaron and Luke, Luke gently took the holo and held it in his lap. Padme Amidala, why had he been sent pictures of this woman.

“Do you know who this man is!?” Luke asked as he held up the holo with both the man and Padme. Arus glanced at the picture while driving then instantly looked nervous, he attempted to recover by keeping a straight face.

“No- uh, I am sorry- I don’t know who that is” Arus gripped the yoke nervously, Luke eyed him suspiciously. Eventually, the speeder was landed in his father's hangar, which Luke saw was bustling. They were preparing a shuttle, Luke walked out with a confused face.

“What's going on Luke?” Aaron asked, still sitting in the speeder, Luke shrugged.

“I’m not sure.” Luke shrugged, Luke turned back to face the speeder, “Thank you for flying me home!” 

“It’s no problem at all Luke..” Arus paused, “Tell your father I said hi! Well, we should be getting going Luke, see you later.” Aarons father said, he lifted the speeder, Luke waved to his friend and watched as the speeder took off. Luke turned back to face the busy hangar, he walked through the P.As and Lieutenants rushing around. Luke made it to the turbolift and ascended up to his home. 

Luke, still holding the box, exited the turbo lift and walked to his room. He placed his backpack on the ground and then put the box on his bedside table. Just then, he felt his father's presence enter his room, Luke turned around and his father was in the doorway.

“Hello, father!” Luke smiled, Luke went over and sat at the edge of his bed.

“Hello, my son.” His father stepped further in his room, “You saw the commotion in the hangar, I expect?” He rested his hands behind his back.

“Oh yeah, what was that about?” Luke asked.

“The Emperor had requested our presence at a formal gathering, I had ordered them to prepare a shuttle quickly.” Luke's eyes went wide, he  _ hated _ formal gatherings. He also did not enjoy being around the Emperor, Luke sighed heavily.

“A formal gathering!?” Luke whined and collapsed on his bed.

“Luke, do not whine, it is just for the evening.” Luke slowly sat up in his bed and huffed.

“Fine, I don’t have to speak with the Emperor do I?” Luke furrowed his brows in curiosity and looked at his father.

“He would like to speak with you, you are not required to sit next to him and speak with him the entire time, just say hello.” Luke nodded slowly, “Get ready, we must leave soon.” His father moved to leave the room, Luke watched as his cape billowed from behind his father. 

Luke reluctantly moved to stand and looked through his closet, he had a certain section of clothing for Imperial gatherings. Whenever there would be an Imperial Event, Luke would have to wear something very fancy to fit in with the crowd. Luke pulled out an outfit and threw it on, he turned back to his box.

He took one last look at the photo with the man and the woman, they both looked so happy. He wondered who would have sent him this, he would figure it out though. He walked out of his room, his father waited for him in the sitting area. Luke followed his father, they entered the turbolift and reached the hangar. 

Men lined up leading towards the ramp of the shuttle, their hands held up in salutes. He and his father walked in between them, his father led the way towards the ramp and Luke followed close behind. Luke and his father boarded the ramp and entered the cockpit.

“Are there gonna be other people at the dinner party?” Luke asked as he sat in the co-pilot's seat. 

“I believe some of the Emperor's close allies will be there.” His father said as he lifted the shuttle out of the hangar and headed to the Imperial Palace.

“Will there be kids my age?” Luke asked hopefully, these parties were incredibly boring. It was a long dinner party that lasted hours. They talked about politics, systems, rebels, credits, Luke had been to a bunch of these parties with his father. Every time Luke had fallen asleep and his father would carry him back to the shuttle. 

“I do not know, but I do think it is a possibility.” His father flew quickly through the Coruscanti speed traffic, he always moved quickly. Luke ended up thinking about his box the entire rest of the way to the Palace. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed!! Let me know what you think!


	10. The Unmarked Box Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke finds out who the woman is and talks with his father

Luke followed behind his father as they walked through the halls of the palace, he fiddled with the collar of his tunic nervously when they finally arrived at the Grand Dining Room. This was the room for special events or for nights like tonight when the Emperor would have a Dinner Party with the highest in the Empire.

The praetorian guards pushed the large gold-encrusted door open, the dining room was large with marble pillars lining the room. A large crystal chandelier hung in the center of the ceiling with a large table in the center. Luke, who had been behind his father, peaked out to see who was at the party. 

Luke saw Grand Moffs, Governors, and a few generals, they all held drinks in their hand and they swirled it around gently in the glass. Luke was relieved when he spotted a few kids. He also recognized them, they were the same group of kids that usually attended these functions as well. He liked a few, a couple of them were incredibly pompous though. 

Just as they were about to walk to the Emperor, one of the Grand Moffs approached them. “Lord Vader, it is a pleasure!” His father sighed.

“Dispense with the pleasantries Grand Moff Olphen, I do not wish to waste my time in discussing politics.” Grand Moff Olphen tensed, but decided to pretend that didn’t just happen. 

“I see your son is here, I-” Olphen was cut off.

“Move out of the way before  _ I _ remove you.” His father threatened, Luke looked between the two. Olphen swallowed hard, bowed then quickly moved out of the way. Perhaps the only person who hated these functions more was his father. Luke followed his father as they made their way to the Emperor. It was always custom to greet him as soon as you arrived.

“Lord Vader, I am glad you were able to attend.” The Emperor smiled, he sat at the very end of the table in a large chair. He would display his power and wealth in every way he could. The chair was designed with jewels, even his gold lined the frame.

“It is an honor, my master.” His father did a small bow towards the Emperor, the Emperor’s gaze slowly drifted towards Luke. Luke instantly felt chills, the man's yellow eyes narrowed on Luke.

“And how is young Skywalker doing this evening?” He asked slowly, Luke took a deep breath and bowed.

“I am doing well, your highness.” Luke looked back at the Emperor, Luke tried to lock his mental shields like his father had told him to around the Emperor. Luke worried his wouldn’t be as strong as his fathers.

“That is good to hear,” The Emperor held his hands together, “Enjoy the party, Skywalker.” The Emperor waved his away, Luke took a final bow then slightly rushed down the table to the other end. Distancing himself from that weird man, Luke shook slightly when he thought of him. As he rushed down he accidentally ran into the back of someone. 

Luke stumbled back and blinked in shock, the man turned around and Luke instantly recognized him. It was Grand Moff Tarkin, Tarkin looked Luke up and down and narrowed his eyes, his lips curled down.

“Oh, it's Vader's boy.” Tarkin said, his hands placed behind his back. His back stood straight, attempting to make Luke feel smaller than he already was.

“I-I am sorry for running into you, sir.” Luke sputtered, this man was possibly the only man who did not fear his father. One of the only men with authority over his father. Luke felt nervous under his gaze, Tarkin stared at him further.

“I did not expect Vader would allow his offspring to be so clumsy.” Tarkin replied slowly, Luke stared up with his eyes wide. Tarkin huffed and quickly walked past Luke towards the Emperor and his father. So far this night had been pretty terrible, Luke wandered further down the table and sat at the end where the children usually sit. 

He deflated in his chair, the kids around him looked at him perplexed but they continued their conversations. His friend Sanna talked with him some, she was the only person he liked to talk to at these parties. She was nice and didn’t seem to care too much about who his father was. 

“What did Tarkin say to you” Sanna grinned widely, she sat up on her chair listening intently.

“He just- he basically called me clumsy.” Luke mumbled as he played with his food, he was slightly embarrassed about the altercation.

“I would have told him off right then and there if I were you, in front of everyone.” She cocked her head proudly, Luke rolled his eyes with a laugh.

A couple hours had passed, Luke had long finished his dinner and was becoming sleepy. Looks like he would fall asleep as per usual. Luke sat up, he was going to try to stay awake this time. He tried to imagine what it looked like when his father carried him out and Luke couldn’t help but feel slightly embarrassed. 

Luke headed towards the large dining room doors, he was going to find the refresher. The doors swung open, he wandered down the hall and found it. He walked in the refresher and splashed some water on his face, he ran his hand down his face and looked in the mirror. He couldn’t help but feel that the water didn’t wake him up more, now he was just wet and tired. 

He sighed as he walked out and began to head down the hall back towards the dining room when he felt a gentle hand lay on his shoulder. He stopped with a jump and turned around quickly, the Emperor was right there, praetorian guards on either side of him. Luke let out a small gasp, which he regretted, he had to be careful of every movement he made around the Emperor. 

“I sense you are tired.” The Emperor stated, his eyes cut into Luke. Luke felt like he was under constant scrutiny by the man.

“I am a little, your highness.” Luke blinked quickly, the Emperor laughed but it wasn’t endearing or charming in any way, it was haunting.

“I bet your father told you to be so formal, hmm?” Luke didn’t know how to respond, he just nodded. “There is something I have been wanting to ask you all night, child.” The Emperor stepped closer, Luke's heart beat sped up. 

“W-What is it you would like to know?” Luke looked up at him, slightly fearful, he swallowed hard.

“Did you receive my box I left for you?” A smile creeped on the Emperors face, Luke wracked his brain. A box? What box- was it the box that was left for him in his locker?

“You left the box in my locker?..” Luke asked in disbelief, how had he done that? Well, he was the Emperor after all, Luke was sure he had connections.

“Yes, of course I did.” The Emperor placed a hand on Luke's shoulder, Luke slightly tensed.

“Why did you?- I mean, thank you for the gift, your highness. I am just curious as to why you gave me those holos?” 

“A child can never have enough holos of their parents, especially their mother.” The Emperor's voice was slow, and seeped into Lukes mind like venom.  _ Mother _ ? That woman in the holos was his mother? Luke began to spiral, he had always wanted to know about her. Of course he had tried to ask, but his father would react poorly.

His father would either leave the room or did his best to ignore Lukes question, it was hopeless. Luke stopped asking, his father seemed incredibly hurt by the subject and wished to not harm him. But Luke always wished to know her name at least.

“W-What, my mother?” Luke asked, his voice sounded more desperate then he wanted to come off but he couldn’t help it.

“Oh?” A larger smile formed on the Emperor's face, he almost seemed amused. “You didn’t know who your mother was?” Luke just shook his head and looked down on the ground.

“No..” Luke whispered, the Emperor gasped.

“A child not even knowing his own mother? Why I- I can’t imagine a greater crime.” The Emperor sounded empathetic, Luke stood still, he was frozen in his place.

“I-I..” Luke was cut off.

“I mean, what kind of father doesn’t tell his child their mother?” Luke was shaking slightly, he was holding back tears. “Well, perhaps he didn’t want you to feel guilty..” The Emperor said with the wave of his hand. Luke looked at him perplexed.

“G-Guilty?” Luke asked, his voice wavered.

“Yes, guilty- seeing as she died because you were born.” The Emperor then patted him on the shoulder. Luke looked up, despite the Emperor's hideous face, he was shocked and wanted answers.

“W-What? I didn’t kill her, I-” Luke stammered.

“It is only natural to deny it, my dear boy. But the truth is final, not your petty excuses and denials.”

“N-No, no..” Is all Luke could say, the Emperor was now grinning, Luke couldn’t stay there any longer and he ran down the hall away from the dining room. He twisted and turned down the halls of the Palace, trying to hide himself from the Emperor. 

Luke ran down an empty hall, he selected a random room and opened it. It was an office, he ran in and ducked under the office table, pulled his knees to his chest and began to cry. He didn’t want to believe what he heard, but maybe it was true. Maybe he was the reason she was dead, did his father resent him for that? 

Luke was perplexed by the idea, but he missed his mother. Someone he had never known, he wished he could apologize for her death. He had never felt such a wave of guilt, the responsibility of his mother's death twisted him up inside. He wondered if she would forgive him, or if she would deny him. 

Luke then felt a presence poke at him, his father, he felt his father's presence wrap around him. 

_ “Where have you gone, my son?” His father asked through their bond. Luke thought about closing the bond but he wanted to go home. _

_ “I am in some weird office room.” Luke felt confusion on his father's end of the bond. _

_ “Why have you run off?” Luke didn’t know what to say. _

_ “I-I..” Luke stammered. _

_ “You may tell me once I have found you.”  _

_ “Okay.” _ Luke said, he then felt the bond close but his father's presence still wrapped around him like a blanket. He didn’t know what to say to his father, maybe he would ask about his mother, apologize for being responsible for his mother's death. Maybe he wouldn’t say anything, what if it was true, that he was responsible for killing his mother. 

He also couldn’t help but feel hurt that his father never told him about her, not even her name. It was something he deserved to know, why was he hiding such important information? Luke felt a twisted storm of the desire to know about her, but was scared that while learning about her he would find out that he was responsible for her death.

A few minutes passed, Luke sniffled slightly and wiped his face to dry his cheeks, he felt his father's presence close in on him. Luke crawled out from under the desk, and wandered to the office door and walked out. The office was dark, when he stepped out into the hall he squinted his eyes at the light. He looked around and saw his father walking towards him.

“I am sorry for running off father.” Luke moped as he walked to him, he stopped in front of his father and looked down at his shoes.

“Yes, I am interested in finding out why you had done this.” His father towered over him, Luke let out a shaky sigh.

“It was just the Emperor-” Luke began but his father quickly cut in.

“The Emperor? What had he done? Has he harmed you!?” His father asked.

“No, no he hasn’t harmed me, I just got freaked out from him and ran.” Luke rubbed his arm awkwardly, he didn’t really feel like talking about it in the hallway of the Palace.

“What did he say to you Luke?” His father pressed, Luke sighed.

“Nothing- I, I don’t want to talk about it right now.” Luke mumbled, his father was silent for a moment.

“Follow me, we are going home.” His father turned around quickly and walked down the hallway, Luke followed close behind. He was happy his father wasn't going to push him to confess right here. Luke had so many thoughts rambling around in his brain.

* * *

Vader landed the shuttle in his hangar, he would need to discuss what happened between Luke and the Emperor. He knew someday the Emperor would go behind his back and prey on his son. Luke was only a child, he would have no way of knowing what was going on. Luke would not know the Emperor always works with ulterior motives, though he has warned Luke profusely about such things. The Emperor had a way of getting under anyone's skin, even if they knew his game.

His son was upset, this was quite obvious. He was not his usual talkative self, he sat in the co-pilot's seat solemnly. Vader wondered what the Emperor would have said to him, no matter, he would find out soon enough.

They both exited the shuttle, Luke this time led the way, he was speeding towards the lift. His arms folded in front of his chest, looking down on the ground. If he was attempting to hide his emotions he was doing a poor job. Luke had always been very emotional, he had always talked about what he was feeling. Sometimes it was difficult to comfort him, Vader wasn’t the best at that sort of thing.

They both entered the turbo-lift, Luke tapped his foot rapidly on the floor. Just as it began to get on his nerves they reached their floor, Luke made a beeline towards his room. Vader followed after him, he saw Luke holding a box then Luke's eyes quickly turned to look at Vader.

“Uh- Hey! Did you follow me to my room!?” Luke hastily moved the box to be behind his back.

“Yes.” He placed his hands behind his back and looked down on his small son. “What are you hiding behind your back?” 

“N-Nothing!” 

“Oh, then I suppose there actually no box behind your back.” Luke rolled his eyes then placed the box on his bed.

“No, really, it's nothing, it's- uh, a school project.” Luke said as he glanced side to side nervously.

“Luke, you know I can tell when you lie through the force.” Vader stepped in his room closer, “What are you hiding?” Luke scrunched his face.

“I am not the one whos hiding stuff! You are!” Luke pointed to Vader, Vader was taken aback by this. 

“Do not try to turn this on me, Luke.” Vader now folded his arms, “You are hiding something from me, what is it.” Luke scoffed.

“You're the one that was hiding stuff first!” Lukes face was furrowed in anger and sorrow, he did not know where this was coming from. Vader reached out in the force to see what Lukewas feeling, Luke's shields were up. While he could break them, he wasn’t going to do that to Luke.

“What are you talking about?” Vader was just confused, felt like he was in a one sided battle. 

“Don’t act like you don’t know!!” Luke retorted, his eyes began to water.

“I- Luke.” Vader stepped closer, now more concerned, “What is this about?” Luke quickly shot his hand in the cardboard box then pulled out something that looked to be a holo. Luke shot the holo forward.

“It's about my mom!” Luke held the holo, it was her, his mother. It was a photo that was taken while she worked in the senate. Vader wanted to snatch the holo and destroy it, he thought he destroyed everything about her. 

“Where did you get that!?” Vader demanded.

“The Emperor gave it to me! As a gift! He thought I should have something about her!” Luke stomped his foot, Vader clenched his fists together. The Emperor was behind this, he sent his son these holos. Why? Why had he done this? It seemed like he wanted to emotionally torture his child. 

“Look..” Luke sniffled, Vader felt Luke's shields crumble, Luke was overwhelmed with sadness and guilt through their bond. “Maybe I can understand trying to hide what I did to…” Luke wiped a tear away, “Spare me the guilt but, I still should know wh-”

“Hide what you have done? What exactly have you done?” Vader asked, Luke struggled to hold back tears. 

“About mom..” His voice wavered, “I am sorry..” He sat hard on his bed and facepalmed, “I am sorry for killing her..” Vader just stared at his son in shock, what did he just say? Did Luke imply he killed her? 

“Did the Emperor tell you this!?” Vader asked, holding back anger, the anger threatening to break through at any moment. 

Luke looked up from his hands and nodded slowly, an overwhelming anger washed over him. Of course, it was the Emperor, he had expected as much. His Master had put the blame of his mother's death on his son, which was a lie. Luke was not responsible for her death.

“Luke, you did not kill your mother! Do not ever think that way ever again!” He pointed at his son. 

“You don’t have to try and make me feel better about it. I know it's the truth…” Luke’s voice wavered.

“Luke- You are not responsible for her death, I-” Vader paused, “I was not able to help her, I failed her. The only one who is to be blamed is me.” Luke looked at him sympathetically, a gaze he didn’t deserve. He deprived his child of his mother, it was unforgivable. 

“I am sure it wasn’t your fault…” Luke muttered softly, he paused. “D-Did you love her?” 

“I did,” Vader said after a moment of silence. Vader lifted his hand and pulled the holo Luke head loosely in his hand with the force, he grabbed it and looked at her holo. “Her name was Padme, she was once the Queen of Naboo and became a senator.”

Lukes head perked up, “Queen!?” 

“Yes, she was very influential on Naboo, and aided her people through a blockade.” Vader floated the holo back to his son, Luke grabbed it gently and looked at it.

“Do you think she would have liked me?” Luke whispered.

“Yes, she would have loved you very much my son.” Luke looked up at Vader, “She loved you even before you were born.”

Luke smiled, he placed the holo next to his bed. “I am sorry for getting so emotional.” Luke laughed softly.

“You do not need to apologize, my son.” Vader paused, “I apologize for not telling you about your mother earlier. You deserved to know about her.”

“It's okay, I forgive you.” Luke had a sympathetic smile, his son really was just like her, too forgiving. He wished he could express to Luke how much his forgiveness meant to him. Even though he believed he didn’t deserve it. 

“Perhaps it is time you go to bed, you have school tomorrow.” Vader said, Luke nodded but then gasped and quickly got up and moved to the control panel by his bedroom door.

“What are you doing?” Vader turned towards Luke.

“I have a huge essay about the fall of the Republic due, like tomorrow and I haven’t really started it, so I am gonna order some caf and work on it tonight.” Luke said as he punched in his order.

“Luke, you cannot drink caf, you are twelve! Do you want to become addicted to spice!?” Luke turned around and blinked in surprise.

“Drinking caf is not the same as being addicted to spice!” Luke moved over to his backpack and pulled out his datapads and set them on his desk.

“It might as well be!” Vader pointed, “And what do you mean by not starting your essay! You must take school seriously, young one!” 

Luke sat down in his chair, “Do you wanna help me with the essay? It would go by quicker.” Luke kicked his feet back and forth, Vader sighed.

“Very well, I shall assist you in your essay.” Luke beamed, just then a kitchen droid rolled in with Lukes caf. Vader lifted the caf and held it in his hands, “Wait, my caf!” Luke cried.

“You shall not be drinking caf, you are too young.” Vader stated, Luke scoffed in disbelief.

“Don’t be such a sleemo!” Luke retorted in his chair.

“Do not call me a sleemo! I am your father! You shall respect me!” Vader demanded, Luke smiled.

“Okay, okay I won’t call you that.” He laughed, “Will you help me with my essay?” Vader looked at his son and sighed.

“Yes, I will.” Vader set the caf down back on the droids silver serving plate, Luke looked at it longingly until Vader stepped next to him. He ordered the droid to dispose of the caf.

“Thank you for helping me!” Luke said as he prepared to start his essay. Vader tousled his hair, then helped his son create the essay or his school. A couple of hours had passed when his son fell asleep on his desk. He moved his son to his bed, pulled the covers on him, and left Luke to sleep peacefully.

* * *

Luke woke up in his bed, it was still dark out. He looked over his chronometer, 0400. Luke let out a ragged sigh and sat up, he saw he was still in the clothes he wore to the party. He moved out of his bed and changed into his pajamas. He hoped his essay would be good enough, he must have fallen asleep while he worked on it with his father.

Luke walked back over to his bed, his foot accidentally bumped into someone on the floor. He looked down, the cardboard box. He reached down and pulled up the holo, it was his mother and father. His father hadn’t seen this one, Luke plopped on his bed and stared at it, mostly at his father.

He looked so...different. Luke never knew that he looked like him, he never knew his father had blue eyes and blond hair. He was smiling, he looked happy, both his mother and father looked in love. It was hard to believe this man in the holo was really his father, he looked so carefree. One question rattled through his brain, he loved his father but wanted to know one thing. What changed?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought this mini arch would be longer, but still, I really liked it and hopes you guys liked it! Let me know what you thought!


	11. Imperial Halloween

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 4 Year old Luke and Dad Vader on Halloween!

Deep within his meditation, he felt the dark side swirl around him venomously. He soaked in its power, fueling himself. He breathed in his pressurized oxygen slowly, one of the few pleasures of his alone time. In his meditation chamber, he felt as soothed as he possibly could, considering. His meditation was immediately disrupted by a large, bright, and warm force presence. 

The presence grew closer, he knew he could no longer meditate, he had things to attend to. His mask slowly lowered and sealed, as the top of his meditation pod lifted then the door of his private chamber swooshed open. There he saw his small, four-year-old son, wrapped in his blanket. 

“Father!” Luke jumped excitedly in the doorway. Vader stood, exited his pod and walked towards his son. Luke hugged his leg tightly.

“Goodmorning, my son.” Vader tousled Lukes hair, he felt Lukes end of the bond radiate with love. Luke pulled himself from his father's leg and looked up at him. 

“Guess what day it is! Guess! Guess!” Luke said as he and Vader made their way to the conference room, Luke practically jumping. 

“I am afraid I do not know.” He said once they both entered the conference room.

“It's Halloween!” Luke threw his hands in the air excitedly, Vader had almost forgotten. Luke loved this day, the Palace threw a Halloween Masquerade party where the children would get candy and dress up. Vader sighed, he disliked this day, so many screaming children, it was the ultimate test for his patience. But his son enjoyed it, so he would endure it for him.

“What do you plan on dressing as?” Vader asked as Luke climbed into one of the conference room chairs.

“I don’t know! I don’t have a costume yet, can I go get one soon please?” Luke asked hopefully, Vader turned and looked down on him. 

“Yes, you may get one, I will have someone take you out.” Vader turned to the end of the conference room and picked up a datapad. 

“You can’t take me?” His voice was hopeful, his eyes pleaded with Vader.

“I am afraid I cannot, seeing as I am busy. But Miss Berik will be able to take you.” Vader started to work on his datapad when Luke’s food arrived.

“What do you think I should be?!” Luke asked and kicked his legs back and forth on the chair. His food was set down on the table and he started to eat. 

“Perhaps you could be a Krayt Dragon.” Vader suggested, not looking up from his datapad. Luke gasped and sat up in his seat.

“Krayt Dragon!” Luke exclaimed, “That's too scary!” 

“I believe that is the point of the holiday, my son.” Luke shook his head.

“But they are still  _ too scary _ !” Luke insisted, he then sat up in his chair quickly. “What are you gonna dress up as, father?” Luke drank from his juice box.

“I will not be dressing up.” He continued to work on his datapad.

“You never dress up!” Luke complained, just then the door to the conference room opened. Miss Berik bowed.

“Greetings, Lord Vader.” Her voice was soft, Vader set the datapad down and looked towards her.

“You will take Luke to get something to wear for the party for this evening.” He instructed.

“Yes, my Lord.” She bowed once again, Luke finished up his breakfast and jumped out of the seat. 

“Are you gonna dress up tonight Miss Berik?” Luke smiled.

“I’m not sure, maybe.” She smiled back, Luke turned and waved to his father.

“Goodbye, father!!” 

“Goodbye, my son.” He watched as Lukes nanny led Luke out of the room, he hoped the Halloween party would go by fast. It was unbearable, while the children were high off candy the adults would drink the night away. If he could, he would ban the holiday altogether, but his son enjoyed it too much and he wouldn’t do that to Luke. He continued his work for the rest of the morning.

* * *

“Bring the Rebels to their knees, Captain” Vader pointed to Captain Lacmar. Captain Lacmar cleared his throat nervously, “I expect a full report that you have cleared the Rebels from the Dantooine System, and have brought them to the Detention Center here on Coruscant.”

“We need more time! I cannot bring the Rebels to a standstill in the time you have requested Lord Vader.” Captain Lacmar stammered, Vader eyed him closely. How had this man obtain the title of Captain? If he is not able to do the work that is required of him, then he should be simply let go.

Vader felt as the dark side of the force rise within him, pulsating with every passing second. He looked down at the Captain, who looked sheepishly at Vader. He felt the man's fear rise, further fueling the rage growing inside him.

“Perhaps if you cannot do it, I shall find someone who can.” Vader threatened, he walked closer and towered over the Captain. The Captain swallowed hard, “You have been relieved of duty, Captain.”

Just when he was about to grab him with the force, he felt his son rush to the conference room. Vader sighed, his son's force presence resonated brightly, suffocating the dark. The man before him shook in fear, Vader turned from him and saw the door swoosh open and saw his son's blond head round the table.

“Father, father!” Luke smiled, the Captain slowly turned towards Luke. His eyes were wide, he felt shock radiate from the man. Luke looked at the man up and down and smiled with a small wave. “Hello!” 

The Captain looked at Luke in shock, he blinked quickly. “H-Hello.” He sputtered.

“What are you gonna be for Halloween?” Luke asked, he rocked on his feet back and forth. Captain Lacmar let out a ragged breath.

“I-I don’t know.” Luke screwed his face in disappointment.

“Do grown-ups never dress up?” Luke asked, Vader had decided he had enough. He needed Luke to get out of here. He wasn’t going to kill this man now, not when Luke was here. Even if he was going to be in a different room.

“Luke, why don’t you wait for me in your room? Vader chimed in, his hands held behind his back. The Captain’s confusion grew further as Luke smiled.

“Okay, but first!” Luke held out a couple small stickers, “Would you like some stickers?” Luke eyed the insignia on the man's uniform.

“He is a Captain, Luke.” Vader informed his son, Luke smiled as he still held them in his hand. The man looked between Vader and Luke nervously, “Well, would you like some stickers, Captain?” 

“S-Sure, I-I would love some.” Captain Lacmar forced a smile, Luke placed a few small stickers in the palm of Lamcar’s hand. 

“I hope you like them!” Luke cheered, he waved both of them goodbye and ran out of the conference room. There was a long moment of silence, Captain Lacmar slowly turned around to face Vader.

“You are dismissed Captain, do not disappoint me.” He firmly pointed to Lacmar, “If you do, you will not be spared like you were today.” 

“Understood, my Lord.” The Captain shuddered, he bowed and left the room quickly. He sighed, he did not believe this captain was worthy enough to be spared. Once he felt the man's presence leave, he left the conference room and walked to Lukes bedroom. The door swooshed open and he saw his son dressed up in a white fluffy onesie with a white fluffy hood with plush horns. Luke turned to his father with a smile.

“Guess what I am!” Luke jumped, Vader looked at his outfit. He genuinely didn’t know what it was supposed to be.

  
“I am afraid I do not know.” He stepped towards him, Luke still smiled all the same.

“I am a Wampa father!” Vader had heard of Wampas, never seen one. He heard they were quite deadly and very aggressive creatures. Vader was under the impression Luke did not want to be something terrifying.

  
“Why have you chosen to be a Wampa? Did you change your mind on being something scary?” He asked his son. Luke looked at him confused.

“Scary? Wampas aren’t scary!” He stated to his father. He sighed, Wampas were, in fact, scary. They were not scary to Vader, but he was sure Luke would be scared of them. They ate people, but he was not going to relay that information to Luke right now. He did not wish to have Luke go out and find another costume.

“No, your right, perhaps I was mistaken,” Vader said, Luke still held a smile.

“Yeah, they are too fluffy to be scary.” Luke reasoned, Vader would just have to make sure Luke never took a step on Hoth and actually meet a Wampa. Luke walked up to his father, “When are we going?”

“The party will not be for some time, little one.” He told his son, Luke deflated slightly.

“Can I help you with your work?” Luke asked, this meant he wanted to run around the conference room and hide under the table and request Vader find him.

“Yes, you may,” Vader said, Luke jumped happily, still in his costume. Vader turned and moved for the hallway, his son close behind. He moved to the end of the conference room table and worked on a datapad, while Luke ran around. 

* * *

The sun began to set over the city, the orange glow in the sky reflected on the skyscrapers. Vader flew his shuttle in the direction of the Imperial Palace, Luke was practically dancing in his seat. Luke sat up and watched as they neared the Palace and landed on one of the landing pads. Luke jumped out of his seat.

“Lets go!” He ran out of the cockpit, Vader stood from the pilot's seat and followed Luke who was jumping to reach the control panel for the exit ramp. 

“Stop jumping before you get yourself hurt.” He told his son as he went up to the control panel and the exit ramp began to lower. 

“I am just so excited!” Luke said as he anxiously watched the ramp go down, once it had reached the floor Luke started to run. Vader though, had stopped Lukes running with the force.

“Do not run down the exit ramps.” He scolded and let Luke free, Luke nodded and grabbed onto Vader's cape and made their way into the Palace. Vader led the way through the halls, which were decorated. Vader was not appreciative of the decorations but Luke sure was. Soon enough a nanny droid zoomed over.

“I will take your child to the children's Halloween Party.” The droid beeped, Luke stepped closer to Vader, practically hidden in his cape.

“Show me where it is, droid.” Vader demanded, the droid swiveled around and rolled down the Palace halls. The droid stopped in front of a pair of doors, Luke still was hidden by Vader's cape.

“Here is the children's Halloween Party.” The droid stated, Vader moved over and motioned for Luke to enter.

“Have fun, little one. I shall get you soon.” Vader said as he looked down at his son. Luke clutched to his cape and nodded slowly. 

“Goodbye, father.” Luke moved from his father's cape and his father opened the door for Luke. Luke waved and walked in, he could tell Luke was nervous from parting with Vader, but he knew he would soon have fun. Vader turned and headed to the  _ adult _ party, this was incredibly unbearable. 

He entered the grand ballroom, it was filled with practically everyone who worked for the Empire. Senators, Generals, Captains, Admirals, and Grand Moffs. Vader made his way to the Emperor, who took any excuse to throw extravagant parties. The Emperor called him over, he was grinning. Around him were Praetorian guards, along with Grand Moff Randd, they were discussing the Outer Rim.

“They are small in numbers, perhaps if the Hutts allowed us more liberties we would be able to find them more easily.” Randd said, then took a drink from his glass.

“I do not wish to be involved with the Hutts, if you cannot find another way I will have Lord Vader aid you.”The Emperor drummed his fingers on his throne, Randd turned to face Vader and bowed.

“It would be an honor to work with you, my Lord.” Randd stood straight, his face stern with a slight smile of admiration to the Sith Lord. 

“Ahh, Lord Vader, what a pleasure it is to see you.” The Emperor sat up slowly in his seat, “Did you bring your-” He struggled to find the words, “Your..Thing?” He chuckled.

“My child?” Vader asked.

“Oh yes, that's right.” He took a sip from his crystal glass, “Your son.” he said in disgust. 

“Yes, my son is here.” Vader stood next to the Emperor, his hands held behind his back. Silent rage filled him, the Emperor did not hide his blatant dislike of Luke. Ever since he got his son, he had never liked him.

“Make sure he does not cause a disturbance at the party,” Sidious said as he looked over the crowd and took another sip from his glass.

“I will, my master.” Vader felt a pang of annoyance, his son was well behaved. Sidious acted as if he was a disease. Vader silently stewed in his anger towards his master, he spent the rest of the evening by his side. Sidious mostly discussed politics with Grand Moff Randd. He surveyed the crowd, full of rich drunk idiots who deserved none of the power they wielded. They tried hiding their lack of sobriety the best they could, trying to keep things professional even here. 

Eventually, Sidious turned his attention from a Senator and looked to Vader. “Your presence is no longer needed, you are free to leave.” Sidious had said with a lazy wave with his hand.

“It was an honor, my master.” Vader said with a bow then left the side of the throne and walked through the ballroom. Sidious requests his presence at these events, to incite fear and remind everyone who was in charge. Luckily, he could leave early, he would take any chance to leave. 

He passed through the intoxicated crowd, despite being drunk, they knew better than to get in the way of Vader. A clumsily formed path was made as he walked through. He exited the ball, the children's Halloween Party was not far from the main ball. Vader walked towards the childrens party swiftly, he saw a man standing, looking into the party. The closer he got the more he realized who it was, Senator Organa.

“Come on sweetie, we have to leave.” He heard Organa say, but quickly turned when he heard Vaders repreator. His eyes widened in fear and stepped back slightly, then he looked down and saw a small girl who first looked at Organa then at Vader.

“L-Lord Vader…” Organa stammered, Vader looked between the two.

“I did not know you had a child, Organa.” Vader stated, Bail stepped back slightly.

“Y-yes, she is my daughter.” Bail’s voice wavered as he motioned to the girl, while people usually feared Vader’s presence Bail seemed unusually frightened. The girl looked slightly frightened as well.

Just then, Vader heard a frightened scream. A small child's scream,  _ his _ child's scream. It came from the childrens party, it was coming closer to the trio that stood at the door. He clutched his lightsaber, ready to attack who was scaring his child. His son appeared, ran past the small girl and into Vader's cape and hid himself. 

“What happened?! Are you hurt?” Vader asked, Luke pointed from behind the cape to a  _ “Haunted House” _ tour. It was a small, make-shift kids haunted house with cartoonish looking monsters. 

  
“S-Scary..” Luke whimpered, Vader placed his hand on Luke's head.

“It was not real, you do not need to be frightened.” Luke still stuck close, Bail was staring in shock at his son. “Is there something wrong, Organa?” He asked venomously, Organa’s eyes darted back up to Vader and slowly shook his head. 

“N-Nothing- No!” He insisted, Vader stared at him for a moment then back at his son. 

Something was definitely wrong with Bail, he can tell lies through the force. But he did not care enough to get into Organas personal drama, he decided to just ignore him. 

“Follow me, little one.” Vader said, while Luke was scared, he still waved goodbye to Bail and the little girl. She waved back as well, then walked away from Bail and the small girl, Bail’s fear still stood strong. Stronger than the young girls, strangely.

“Where we going?” Luke asked.

“Home, my son.” Vader continued to walk through the halls.

“The party was so much fun father!” Luke told him as he dug through his bag of candy, Vader reached out with the force and grabbed Lukes bag. “My candy!” 

“It is way too late for sweets.” He told his son, Luke huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest. Maybe a few would be alright, he flew a couple pieces of candy to Luke from the candy bag and Luke smiled brightly.

“Thank you.” He said and grabbed the candies, they reached the landing pads and entered the shuttle. Luke sat in the co-pilot's seat and Vader took off over the city, Luke happily told him everything he saw at the party. These parties were incredibly boring, but his son had a good time, so it was worth it in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading this little story! I thought this one was pretty sweet. Please let me know what you guys thought!


	12. The School Lock-in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke is 8 and wants to go to the school Lock In

“Stars, the newest episode of Octave Stairway was so good.” Luke sais, Luke and Aaron were walking through the halls of their school towards their lockers. Aaron flung his hands to his ears.

  
“Luke don’t say anything, I haven’t even seen it!” Aaron looked at him concerned.

“Why haven’t you seen it yet!?” Luke asked once they reached their lockers.

“Because  _ I  _ prioritize school over hologramas, unlike some people.” Aaron laughed. Luke shrugged.

“To each their own.” Luke smiled, he looked at the front of his locker and saw a poster taped on the front. “What's this?” Luke muttered, Aaron had one on his locker too. Aaron ripped the paper off their lockers.

“A school lock-in? Oh yeah, I remember the teacher talking about it in homeroom.” Aaron said as he held the poster.

“I slept through homeroom.” Luke confessed awkwardly, Aaron gave him a look then went back to the poster.

“Its tonight, you wanna go together?” Aaron smiled, Luke looked at the poster. It was the end of the week, he couldn’t imagine wanting to stay at school for longer than was required. But it could be fun, the poster listed games and snacks were involved, which seemed to win Luke over. It would be his first night away from his home ever though, but there was a first time for everything.

“Yeah, it will be fun!” Luke opened his locker and put his books in it and closed it. “Hey, have you ever spent the night away from your home?” 

“A couple times.” Aaron shrugged, “It was to my cousins.” Luke contorted his face in concern, he wanted to ask what it was like and if Aaron was nervous. But he would definitely be teased for never having slept anywhere else. 

They both headed out to leave the school, Luke held the poster in his hand and looked at it contemplatively. Once they got out to the landing pads and saw Lekauf he turned and waved Aaron goodbye and ran to the speeder. 

He hoped in the speeder, “How was school?” Lekauf asked as he lifted the speeder in the air and into air traffic. Luke moved his backpack onto his lap.

“Boring as usual, but apparently my school is having a Lock In sleepover-type thing.” Luke smiled.

“A sleepover type thing?” Lekauf laughed, “Wow, you have never left the house to sleep anywhere else.” Lukes face grew slightly embarrassed.

“Yeah I know, but this would be cool right?” Luke held up the poster, “Look, snacks and games!” 

“You won’t be nervous?” Lekauf asked, Luke shrugged.

“I’ll be fine.” Luke looked out of the speeder as they headed back to his home. Lekauf landed in the hangar, Luke jumped out and ran into the turbo lift. He stretched out with the force and poked at his father's force presence, his father poked back. He smiled to himself and closed their bond, once the turbo lift doors opened Luke darted down the halls towards the conference room.

“Father!” Luke cheered, he set his backpack on the table. 

“How was your day, my son?” His father asked, he stood at the end of the conference room table and held a datapad.

“It was good,” Luke pulled out the poster he found from school, “Look at what my school is doing tonight!” Luke walked over and handed him the poster. His father held it in his hand and looked at it.

“A lock in?” His father asked, “What is this exactly?”

“It's like a giant sleepover with the school.” Luke informed, “The school locks up at night so its safe.” 

“You wish to partake in this?” His father asked as he placed the poster down on the conference room table.

“Yeah, I think it could be fun.” Luke shrugged with a small smile. His father studied him for a moment.

“You have never slept anywhere else before.” His father stated, “Do you think you could possibly become scared?” Luke shrank slightly in embarrassment.

“Scared!? Of what I mean- it's just school.” Luke reasoned.

“I thought you took every chance you got to get away from your school.” 

“Well,” Luke pointed at the poster, “Games and snacks! My friend Aaron will be there too.” 

“I see,” His father paused, “You may go if you wish.” Luke smiled brightly and jumped slightly.

“Thank you!” He cheered, his father tousled Lukes hair. “I’ll go get packed now!” Luke turned and left the conference room and pulled out a duffle bag. He grabbed a pair of pajamas, socks, clothes for the morning and his brush. He turned to grab his pillow on his bed when he saw his ducky blanket on his bed. 

He looked at it embarrassed, he couldn’t possibly bring this to his school. What would they say if they saw that he still slept with something he had since he was a baby. He grabbed it and held it in his hand, it was still soft. He loved this blanket, but maybe he should just leave it behind for tonight. He dropped it back on his bed and packed a couple other things and zipped up the duffle bag. 

The Lock-in didn’t start for a couple hours, so he passed the time by doing some of his homework. Usually, he and Aaron would do their homework together during lunch, but they didn’t get to do it that day. There was a special announcement from a selected student council.

Sometime later Luke finished a dinner he ordered and sat up from his desk, his father then entered the room. “Oh, hi father.”

“I wanted to say goodbye before you had left.” His father walked further in his room.

“Thanks dad.” Luke smiled and grabbed his duffle back and rung it over his shoulder, his father lifted up his hand and his ducky blanket flew into it. 

“You are not bringing this?” His father asked him, Luke blinked at him quickly.

“Well- uh, I mean don’t you think it's a little babyish?” Luke stammered, his father just looked at him.

“You have never slept without it.” His father reminded, Luke sighed.

“I know but-” Luke paused, “The kids at my school will probably think its stupid, or something.” Luke slumped.

“Why do you care what they think?” His father asked, still holding the blanket.

“B-Because!” Luke said, “I think I am old enough to not sleep without it.” Luke sighed, his father was silent for a moment.

  
“I see.” His father replied, Luke let out a deep breath and looked up at his father.

“Well, I will see you tomorrow.” Luke smiled, his father was silent once again and studied Luke.

“Goodbye, my son.” Luke gave him one last smile and walked out of the room and down to the lift. He entered the lift and it descended to the hangar, his stomach twisted with anxiety. He was too old for this! He  _ has _ left his home before and slept on Star Destroyers just fine, this was just the school.

The lift doors open and he walked out to the speeder Lekauf was sitting in, Luke dropped his duffle bag in the back seat and sat up in the front. “You nervous?” Lekauf asked as the speeder rose into the air. Luke looked at him incredulously.

  
“Nervous!? Of course not!!” Luke lied, Lekauf eyed him skeptically then began to tell Luke about his first time at a sleepover. They talked all the way until they reached his school, the sun was beginning to set. The glare of the sun reflected off the skyscrapers and the sky was turning a soft orange as the sun slowly disappeared. It was weird to be at his school around night time, he saw a bunch of other speeders land on landing pads as well. 

Luke exited the speeder, grabbed his duffle bag and glanced between the school and Lekauf. A strong urge to jump back in the speeder overwhelmed him, his only chance back home was about to leave. 

“Have fun Luke.” Lekauf smiled, Luke was about to stop him but Lekauf’s speeder began to lift in the air. Luke slumped his shoulders and turned around to enter the school. Groups of kids his age began to enter the school with their friends, Luke squinted his eyes and looked around for Aaron. 

He then saw Aaron standing around alone, probably looking for Luke. Luke ran over to him, “Hey Aaron!”

“You made it!” Aaron smiled.

“Of course I did!” Luke grinned, Aaron smiled back and turned around to enter the school, Luke followed. Life Day lights lining the halls and big poster boards with arrows pointing to the large gymnasium. The three followed the signs and opened up to a large gymnasium which was designed head to toe.

One corner had rows of foldable beds ready for students to claim, another side were tables with colorful clothes and a large spread of snacks. The other corner had small family-friendly games, Luke smiled, it was really impressive. Luke and his friends walked in, Aaron ran over to the beds.

“Before the ones next to each other are gone!” Aaron said in a rush, Luke ran after Aaron and noticed how people were choosing beds already. Hopefully Luke and Aaron could get beds next to each other. Once they reached the spread of beds, Luke plopped his duffle bag on a bed and Aaron put his bed on the bed next to his.

Luke pushed down on the bed with his hands to test if it would be comfortable, it felt okay but the bed creaked slightly under the weight. Luke grimaced when he felt the springs under the mattress, he looked up at Aaron skeptically. Aaron gave him the same face, “It will do for tonight.” Aaron sighed.

“Wanna go get some snacks?” Luke suggested, Aaron nodded. They left their stuff on their beds and ran over to the snacks. They passed the time by eating sweets and playing games, Luke was able to ignore his worries and anxiety about sleeping somewhere else most of the night. At some point, Luke and Aaron changed into their pajamas. After a couple of hours passed, a woman walked in the gymnasium.

“Alright,it's 2100, lights out. Time to go to sleep!” She announced, there was an audible groan through the crowd. The woman laughed and turned the lights off, there were still twinkle lights throughout the gymnasium on the ceiling. It filled the room with a dull light and somewhat appeared like a night sky.

Luke and Aaron made their way back to their beds, Luke got to his and set his pillow on the bed. He sat on the bed and looked over to Aaron. “Goodnight,” Luke whispered, other kids around them whispered to their respective friend groups. Aaron smiled and crawled under his sheets, Luke did the same. 

It all came back crashing into him, it felt wrong. This wasn’t his home, his bedroom, his bed, he didn’t have his ducky blanket, and despite the large group of people around him he felt alone. He was used to sensing his fathers presence before he fell asleep. He tried to shut his eyes, he squeezed them tightly focusing on the dark. His heart began to ache slightly, he opened his eyes and stared at the twinkle lights in the ceiling.

He stretched out with the force, trying to find and sense his father. He wanted his father to connect back with him, sensing his father would put him at ease. He felt nothing, he closed off to the force. He felt stupid for being so childish, he was old enough to not be homesick. Everything was wrong though, he couldn’t fall asleep without his blanket and not in his own bed.

He spent the past hour trying to fall asleep. He rolled over side to side, trying to get into a comfortable position. Nothing helped, every time he closed his eyes he felt the urge to call his father and go home over and over again. He would open his eyes and stare into the darkness, he huffed softly and laid back on his back and looked at the ceiling. He crossed his arms over his chest frustratingly and furrowed his brows.

What was he gonna do? It became evident he wasn’t going to sleep. He boiled silently in frustration, wishing his father would come and use the force to make him sleep. He wasn’t here, maybe that was the problem. As embarrassing as it was to admit, he missed him. It would be so embarrassing to leave now, people had seen him here. What would they say if they woke up and he was gone?

He fiddled with his sheets frustratingly, he stretched out with the force again in an attempt to reach his father. He felt the room softly buzz with sleeping life forms, he seemed to be the only one awake.

_ “Father?” Luke shot out through the force. He waited silently for a couple of minutes before shutting the bond once again. _

He pouted silently, he looked over at his friend Aaron who was sleeping soundly in his bed. Luke slowly sat up in his bed, he couldn’t do it. He had to go home, he felt so stupid. He facepalmed then rolled out of his bed and silently reached into his duffle bag. He pulled out his comlink and looked around to make sure no one was awake, he silently moved to the exit doors of the gymnasium and walked out into the dark halls of his school.

It was chilling, they seemed longer in the dark. The hall was lightly lit by the moonlight which seeped through the transparisteel viewports at the end of the hall. He saw a man in a security outfit at the end of the hall, was he supposed to keep the kids in or the danger out. Perhaps both, the man glanced up at Luke then back down at his datapad.

Luke leaned his back against the walls of the hallway and commed his father, it did not take long for his father to answer.

“Are you alright, my son? Why are you calling at 23:30.” His father asked, concern clear in his voice. Luke took a minute to respond, wondering if he should just go back in there. But he knew he wouldn’t have been able to fall asleep.

“W-Will you come to pick me up?” Luke sniffled, he was getting teary-eyed. It was embarrassing, frustrating, and he was getting tired. He felt stupid now for beginning to cry.

“You want to come home, my son?” His father asked, Luke nodded softly and a tear trickled down his eyes.

“Y-Yes, please.” He sniffled again, his father was silent for a moment. 

“Alright, I shall come and pick you up.” Luke smiled as he felt instant relief for his father not telling him to tough it out. He just wanted to go home, he couldn’t believe how relieved he felt.

“Thank you,” Luke whispered.

“I will see you soon, young one.” The com was cut, Luke let out a sigh and felt his anxieties roll off of him. He pushed off from the wall and quietly walked back into the gym and towards his rollout bed. He kept as quiet as possible, he didn’t want people to see him leave.

He slowly grabbed his duffle bag and tucked his pillow under his arm, he sighed softly when he saw his sleeping friend on the bed. Maybe he could make up a lie and say he was sick and that's why he left, Luke turned back to the exit of the gym and quietly walked back. 

He walked out into the hall and looked down to the exit doors where the security guard was, he slowly made his way to the door and anxiously fiddled with the strap of his duffle bag. He walked up to the security guard who still looked down at his datapad. Luke awkwardly cleared his throat for attention, the guard's eyes slowly looked up at Luke.

“C-Can I leave please?” Luke asked softly, the guard begrudgingly set down his datapad and looked at Luke.

“This is called a Lock-in, kid. You can’t leave.” The guard huffed, Luke's eyes widened. They couldn’t make Luke stay here could they?

“B-But my father is on his way to pick me up!” Luke furrowed his brow in worry.

“Well, he will just have to leave when he gets here.” Luke crossed his arms over his chest.

“So you're just going to make me stay here?” The guard picked up his datapad and looked at it.

  
“Yup.” Luke rolled his eyes and moved to sit against the wall and wait for his father, he didn’t care what the guard said he was leaving. Luke sat there for a few minutes until he saw his fathers shuttle land, his heart leaped and sat up.

“It's my father!” Luke said to the guard.

“It's called a lock-in for a reason.” The guard shook his head in annoyance, “Tell him to leave and go back to bed.” Luke watched as the ramp to the shuttle lowered and his father stepped out, Luke waved to him to get his attention and his father walked towards the door. The guard turned around to see what Luke was waving at and jumped in his seat. “Its Lord Vader!” He whispered.

“Bye!” When the guard stood away from the door and looked at Vader, Luke took this as a chance to leave while he was distracted. Luke ran out of the school and ran to his dad. “Thank you so much for coming!” Luke smiled, his father looked down at him.

“Are you sure you want to leave, my son?” His father folded his arms over his chest, Luke nodded slowly.

“Yeah, I-I can’t sleep.” Luke looked down, “I thought I could sleep somewhere else, but I can’t.”

“Luke, you can sleep anywhere. You have fallen asleep at the bridge of a Star Destroyer before.” 

“Yeah, well-” Luke paused, “I can’t this time, I just can’t!” Luke waved his arms frantically.

“Wait right here.” His father said then walked back into the ship, Luke watched curiously, what was he doing? Soon his father walked back out holding something in his hands. “Perhaps this would help.” His father held out his ducky blanket, Luke’s eyes widened and looked around.

“What! My blanket-” Luke paused, “Why did you bring it!!!”

“It may help you in your efforts to sleep, my son.” His father still held out the blanket to him, Luke looked at it skeptically.

“Why can’t you just take me home?” Luke slumped his shoulders.

“Because this is something I believe you will be proud of if you accomplish.” Luke sighed sadly, “If you truly cannot fall asleep within the next three hours, I will pick you up. Take your blanket and try again.” Luke stared at the blanket then grabbed it and threw it around his shoulders so it draped over him somewhat like a cape.

“Okay..” Luke muttered, “But pick me up soon! As early as you can!” Luke jumped.

“That can be arranged,” His father replied, “Goodnight my son, may you sleep well.” Luke smiled.

“Goodnight, father.” Luke felt a strong urge to- he quickly hugged his father then ran back in the school before his father could react. When he ran in he saw the guard was gone, he turned back and saw his father walking back into his shuttle. Luke ignored the guard then walked back into the gym with his blanket wrapped around him.

He quietly made it back to his bed and placed his pillow back on it and crawled under the covers, he held onto his blanket tightly. He was amazed how relaxed he felt and at peace, he closed his eyes and soon enough drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Luke’s eyes fluttered open, at first he was slightly frightened as he had forgotten where he had fallen asleep. But then everything slowly came back to him, Luke sat up slowly then noticed his blanket, he jumped slightly and looked around to see if anyone else was awake. He saw a couple kids sitting up and talking to their friends, no one had seemed to notice Luke had woken up though. He grabbed his blanket and shoved it in his duffle bag so no one would see.

He looked around, light peaked through the transparisteel viewports into the gym, Luke turned to see his friend Aaron sitting up. Aaron rubbed his eyes and looked at Luke and smiled, “Hi Luke,” Aaron yawned, “How was your sleep?” 

Luke shrugged, “It was alright.” He swore to never mention to anyone what happened last night, he couldn’t believe he had actually fallen asleep here. His father was right, he was a little proud of himself. Luke then felt a familiar presence wrap around him, his father was here. He then remembered he told his father to pick him up as soon as possible.

“My father is here,” Luke whispered, Aaron’s eyes shot open. Aaron was slightly frightened of Luke's father, they have only talked a couple times. 

“Really?” Aaron looked at the chronometer on his wrist, “My father might be here too.” Luke looked around, a small band of kids were making their way to the exit. Luke jumped out of the bed and grabbed his duffle bag and pillow. 

“We should probably get going then.” Luke yawned, Aaron nodded and rolled out of his bed and collected his things. 

“This was a lot of fun- hopefully the school does more stuff like this.” Aaron said as they walked to leave the gym and go down the hall. The hall was busier then when Luke was here last, kids sat back against the walls with their bags by their ankles and looked out the door waiting for their parents.

Luke and Aaron walked out of the school, Luke's father wasn’t standing outside but say his shuttle.Luke turned to Aaron and waved goodbye then darted to the ship, Luke quickly boarded the ramp and dropped his bag on the floor. He punched into the control panel to close the ramp and walked into the cock-pit and saw his father. He sat in the co-pilot's seat and smiled.

“I did it! I slept there all by myself.” Luke boasted proudly.

“I knew you could, my son.” His father said as he lifted the shuttle. “Did you sleep well?” Luke nodded.

“Yeah, after you came I was able to fall asleep pretty easily,” Luke said as he looked out of the transparisteel viewport. 

“So the blanket helped after all?” His father inquired, Luke sighed.

“Yeah...maybe a little.” He mumbled, still feeling slightly stupid he needed that to fall asleep.

“There is no shame in needing something to comfort you, my son.” Luke smiled softly as he continued to look out onto the city from the shuttle. Content with himself for staying the night, doing something he had never done before. Happy that his father didn’t judge him, he was content, he was happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked this chapter update! I have a baby Luke chapter next. I am trying to keep a consistent Baby Luke then older Luke chapters. Let me know what you guys think! I hope you liked it!


	13. Imperial Introduction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three-year-old Luke is introduced to Imperial High Society

This day had been coming for a while, Vader knew. This was a day that did not sit well with him, despite having three years to let it set in. The Emperor had wanted this, despite his disdain for his child. Perhaps it was to infuriate Vader, Vader hated gatherings as well as other people overwhelming his son, which he was sure was going to happen. Perhaps to upset his son, Luke was shy to strangers, as he should be, but many people will want to meet him. Perhaps it would end the stream of questions of when Vader would introduce his son and heir. But tonight was the night.

Vader was sure many would face their end by Vader’s rage based on how tonight went. If some Senator tried to use Luke somehow in their campaign or use Luke to get to Vader or even looked at him funny, Vader would not show them mercy. This event was only being held for the very high up in the Empire, he was sure many of them would be nice to Luke to try and get on Vader's good side. Many would try to speak with Vader on their planet's issues to have Vader tell the Emperor. This event will be filled with incredibly greedy politicians and incompetent wealthy people; he would have to remind himself Luke was far too young to witness a slaughter.

After lingering in the anger of what is to come, he knew it was time to leave. He lowered his mask slowly onto him, once again having the red tint curse his sight. The pod lifted open, releasing the built-up steam from inside and stepped out. Vader was now going to check on his son, who was with his nanny Miss Berik. He had briefed Miss Berik on the importance of this night, he must dress properly and had sent her out to find something suitable. 

He walked out of his chambers and walked down the hall towards his son's room, he opened the door and saw his son having a fit with Miss Berik.  “I don’t wanna!” Luke cried as he attempted to pull off the tunic he was wearing. He could feel the waves of distress pouring off of Luke's nanny as she tried to keep him from ruining his outfit. Her distress only worsened once Vader entered the room, his face contorted into worry.

“Luke..” She grabbed the ends of his tunic and pulled down, “Please just wear-”

“Luke!” Vader boomed, the two stopped wriggling with the shirt and stared wide-eyed at him.”Put your tunic on right now!” He pointed at Luke, to say Luke became instantly devastated was an understatement. Miss Berik slowly stood up as Luke pulled his shirt down and started to cry. He turned to Miss Berik, “You are dismissed for the evening.” Vader pointed towards the door. She nodded and quickly walked out of the room.

Vader looked down at his crying son, this was not good. He couldn’t have Luke visibly upset at the event, Sidious still didn’t like Luke and wasn’t very patient with children. Sidious would want this evening perfect, he would not tolerate a toddlers wavering emotions. 

“Luke, why are you crying.” Luke wiped his eyes with his sleeves and sniffled.

“Y-You yelled at me!” He facepalmed and cried some more, Vader internally sighed. They had to be leaving now.

“Luke, you were not wearing your tunic,” Vader explained, though attempting to explain something to a distressed child was more of a fool's game. They needed to leave right now, they could not be late, Luke was the whole reason for the event. Hopefully Luke would calm down by the time they got there. “We must go now, Luke.” 

“I don’t wanna!” Luke protested between his sobs, great now Luke didn’t want to go. Well, neither did Vader but that's beside the point. They  _ had _ to go, Vader waited to calm down before he responded, not wanting to add more fuel to the fire.

“Luke, we have to go. I will not repeat myself.” Vader said firmly. Luke turned his back towards Vader and crossed his arms over his chest. Frustration rose within him, why was his son being this difficult? He did not have time to ponder that question, they had to leave. He moved towards Luke and picked him up, Luke squirmed in protest.

“No!” Luke yelled, Vader ignored Luke as he made his way to the turbo-lift. Vader put Luke down on the floor of the lift, Luke looked at Vader like he betrayed him. 

“You will get on that ship and you shall stop acting this way.” He pointed at his son, Luke looked down. Luke's distress in the force only grew once the doors to the lift opened, Luke booked it through the hangar trying to run but Vader stopped him through the force. He was trying to spare Luke of embarrassment by not carrying him through the hangar, but he was out of control.

Vader picked Luke up again and put him in the ship, the crew tried their best not to stare but Vader could feel their interest peak. Vader set Luke back down, “This behavior needs to be stopped, Luke.”

“I don’t wanna go!” Luke retorted and stomped his foot.

“Why, why do you not want to go?” Vader finally asked. He folded his arms over his chest and looked down at Luke. Luke, who was once furious at the idea of going now slumped slightly and furrowed his brows in worry.

“I’m scared.” He whispered, Luke sniffled and wiped his eyes with his sleeves again. Scared? Maybe of the crowd that would be there, he was shy after all. 

“Scared of what, my son?” Luke shifted slightly and sniffled again.

“The Emper’r” Luke said softly, Vader just looked at his son. Of course, he was afraid of him, the Emperor has never been kind to Luke. Unfortunately, the Emperor wished to speak with Luke when it was possible. He would want to speak with Luke tonight. 

“Has the Emperor done something to you?" Luke shook his head.

“He just looks scary..” Luke said, Vader was relieved that was the only reason as to why he didn't like the Emperor. There were plenty of other reasons.

“All you have to do is say hello to him, then he will leave you alone. I promise.” He assured Luke, the Emperor did not really enjoy speaking with Luke anyways. The Emperor would view it as a waste of time. “I will be right beside you.” He could sense Luke ease in the force, he nodded at Vader, fully trusting him.

“Sit up there?” Luke pointed to the cockpit.

“Yes, follow me.” He walked in the cock-pit, Luke followed close behind. He put Luke in the co-pilot's seat and Vader sat in the pilot's seat. He lifted the shuttle out of the hangar and headed towards the Imperial Palace. Luke had seemed to get over what upset him quickly, he watched out of the transparisteel viewport excitedly. 

Vader was sure Lukes's excitement wouldn’t last, he would hide behind Vader's cape and only peek out every so often. Soon enough, the shuttle landed on a landing pad and Luke slid out of his seat. Vader strode out of the cockpit and pressed on the control panel, the exit ramp began to lower. Luke stood behind Vader and peaked around as the ramp fully lowered. 

There was a commotion outside, crowds of people were here. Just like Vader had predicted, Luke wrapped himself in Vader's cape so no one would see him. He walked down the exit ramp and walked into the palace, Luke stayed close behind. Inside the Palace was quieter, but in the distance, there was laughter and music. Luke let go of the cape and looked around the hallway curiously. 

“Music!” Luke smiled. He could feel Lukes excitement radiate through the force.

“Follow me.” He told his son, Luke nodded and followed Vader into a large room. The room was round with a large chandelier in the center, there was a small set of steps that let do the center of the room. The room was rather busy, filled with Senators, Grand Moffs, Generals.

Once Vader had entered the room, Luke took one glance then quickly hid himself. Everyone's gaze seemed to look at them. Vader strode to the Emperor, Sidious liked to be greeted right away. Sidious turned from the Senator of Vandor and smiled at Vader.

“Lord Vader, where is your offspring?” His head moved to either side of Vader looking for Luke, Vader lifted his cape to reveal his son. He nudged Luke forward slightly, just then he could tell Luke was about to cry. He placed his hand on Luke's shoulder. “How is young Skywalker this evening?”

Luke sniffled, for a moment he worried Luke would just burst out crying in front of Sidious. If that had happened, Sidious would either be  _ very _ upset. He had little patience for children and a very strong dislike for Luke. Or Sidious would have laughed in Lukes face, making Luke feel small and embarrassed. Vader sent ease through their bond, Luke took a deep shaky breath. “I am good,” Luke said in a small voice.

Sidious narrowed his eyes on Luke, he could feel Luke tense slightly, Sidious’s eyes then looked at Vader. “Make sure he addresses me properly, Lord Vader.” His glare grew more intense. 

“My apologies, my master, he is only a child,” Vader said as Luke inched back behind his cape, Sidious scoffed.

“I do not care if he is just a child," Sidious spit, "Make sure it doesn’t happen again.” He still kept a poisonous gaze on Vader. Vader knew Luke may slip up with calling Sidious ‘your highness’, after all Luke was three. 

“Of course, my master.” Vader bowed slightly, Sidious lingered in that spot for a moment.

“I must leave the party prematurely, I have matters to attend to, Lord Vader. Enjoy the party, introduce your spawn to the people here. Make sure he behaves.” Sidious turned around and walked off, Vader clenched his fists tightly. That interaction was a pain to get through, he wanted to rid the galaxy of Sidious right then and there. But he could not, he would have to wait until it was the right moment. Besides, Luke was too young to witness something like that.

Vader lifted his cape slightly and felt a slight tug, he saw Luke digging his face in his cape. Vader sighed, wondering how he could introduce his son while he cried silently into Vader's cape. He decided to move out to the hall for a moment so Luke could collect himself. Once they were in the hall, Luke hiccuped for breath and wiped his face with Vader's cape. Usually, he would reprimand Luke for using his cape as a tissue, but he wouldn’t right now.

Vader watched as his son composed himself, he felt terrible for Luke having to do this. He wouldn’t make Luke do it unless it was necessary, living under Sidious’s watch was overwhelming and affecting Luke. He would need to remove Sidious sooner then he planned, Luke looked up at Vader and sniffled.

“Luke, are you feeling alright?” He asked Luke, Luke nodded. “Do you think you can go back into the party?” Luke looked at the party hesitantly.

“He is gone?” Luke asked hopefully, he was sure Luke spotted the table with a large cake in the center. 

“Yes, he is gone, little one,” Vader assured, Luke smiled.

“Okay..” Luke moved slowly towards the door and looked left and right, making sure he really wasn’t there. He felt Luke brighten up through their bond, Luke turned around “Can I have cake?”

“Yes, you may when we leave. Follow me, young one.” Vader strode back into the party and Luke followed close behind. Vader walked back into the large party room, Luke held onto his cape.

Soon, he saw Director Krennic coming towards him, making Vader instantly want to turn around and leave. Krennic was focused on one thing, his own personal glory. He did not have time to waste on this man. “Lord Vader.” He bowed, though he could feel stress from the man.

"Director Krennic, I would like to introduce my son." Vader gestured to Luke, Luke ducked slightly behind his cape.

"Oh, this is your son?" Krennic asked, looking down at Luke. "I am sure he will become a great asset to the Empire." Krennic smiled looking at Luke, Luke came around from the cape and waved.

“Hello,” Luke said shyly, before Krennic could respond he saw a small ground of Senators come near. 

“Lord Vader!” Senator Beren smiled and looked down at Luke. “Is this your son?!” The other Senators cooed when they saw Luke. Just like he expected, Senators being idiots, what else could you expect from politicians?

“It's an honor to meet your son!” Senator Cyone bent their knees slightly to look at Luke closer, “Whats your name, little guy?” Senator Cyone smiled, Luke backed up slightly.

“L-Luke.” He said in a small voice, the Senators cooed again. Vader clenched his fists tightly, these idiots were wearing on his patience. 

"I have been wanting to meet mini Vader for some time!" Senator Cardas smiled, Vader was once again blown away by the idiocy of the Senators. Senator Cardas was sure to meet a quick end after this.

“Here Luke.” Senator Beren dug through their pockets and pulled out a pin, “Want one of my pins?” Vader lifted his hand and the pin flew into his hand. It was a political campaign pin, clever. Vader was sure having the son of Lord Vader wearing Senator Berens pin would look good for his political campaign. 

“Are you attempting to give my son one of your pins for your political campaign?” Vader asked the Senator. Senator Beren looked from Luke to Vader, Vader could now feel the Senators nerves spike.

“Oh well, yes, but you know how much children love pins!” Senator Beren laughed awkwardly.

“Political pins?” Vader said slowly, “I would advise you to not use my son for your political gain, senator.” Vader said threateningly, this Senator had no idea he would pay for such insolence. Not here though, Luke was right next to him. The list of Senators he was going to deal with began to grow.

“M-My apologies, Lord Vader.” Senator Beren stammered, the Senator then bowed and walked away. Just then Vader felt a tug on his cape and looked down at his small son, Luke had his hand reached up.

“I want the pin!” Luke said as he desperately reached for it on his tippy toes, Vader looked at his son perplexed then handed him the pin.

“Do not wear it,” Vader instructed, Luke looked at it fascinated. He didn’t want his son wearing political ads for such a stupid Senator. They spent the rest of the evening doing the same thing, introducing Luke. As time passed, Luke grew less shy and showed off his pin a couple times which led Vader to taking it from him. A couple other Senators attempted giving Luke stupid things like pins, Vader had stopped them quickly. He knew he couldn’t very well kill off the entire Senate, even if they were all infuriating him tonight. Grand Moff's were less infuriating, though he still didn't like many of them. They were still power-hungry and constantly seeking approval from the Emperor, Grand Moff Randd seemed to be the only one that didn't infuriate him to no end. 

It was getting late and he could feel Luke grow more tired the more people he met, he looked down at his son. “Would you like to go home, little one?” Luke nodded slowly.  “Follow me.” He told his son, he was sure the attendants at the party would stay long after Vader and Luke left. As they were leaving Luke spotted Senator Beren and waved.

“Goodbye! Thank you for the pin!” Luke smiled, the Senator gave Luke a warm smile. Vader walked out into the hallway and Luke followed close behind. Just then he felt a presence come rushing from the party room, Vader turned around to see it was Senator Organa. He looked tired and felt slightly stressed. Senator Organa's eyes landed on Luke and let out a shaky breath.

“Lord Vader.” Senator Organa breathed, “I just, I wanted to meet your son but never got the chance.” Vader eyed Organa and Luke stepped forward.

“Hello.” Luke smiled, Organa looked at Luke slightly amazed. 

“Hello Luke.” Organa smiled softly at Luke, “Did you have fun at the party?” Luke nodded.

"I got a pin!" Luke smiled, Organa laughed softly.

“We will be leaving now, Senator.” Vader said as he inspected the man, Organa nodded.

“Of course, my Lord.” Organa said in a whisper, Luke skipped back to Vader. Organa stood still in his spot for a moment, watching them then he walked back into the party. Vader and Luke walked out into the landing pads, it was dark outside and void of any lifeforms. They walked onto the shuttle, Luke walked into the cockpit as Vader closed the exit ramp. Vader walked into the cockpit and saw Luke curled on the seat and was falling asleep. 

Vader sat in the pilot's seat and started the ignition sequence, he then began to think over Lukes meeting with the senators. As he expected, a good handful of them had acted like idiots. Some were fearful of Vader as they should, while others had misplaced confidence, believing that since they were a Senator they were powerful enough to speak with him. They were too powerful to be expendable.

He lifted the shuttle and began to fly back to their home, one Senators meeting spun around in his mind. The meeting with Organa, his demeanor with Luke was vastly different then all the others. He wasn’t sure if Organa knew Vader could sense emotions, but Organas were screamed into the force. Organa was astonished and heartbroken, as to why he was heartbroken remained a mystery. No other Senator had reacted in such a way, but that was not the only thing that bothered Vader. Organa seemed to know Lukes name with no prior introduction, perhaps another Senator had informed him of Lukes name during the party. Organa wasa curious case, no matter, he would find out why he acted as he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked this update! I struggled on this one for a bit, I know Luke goes to a lot of Imperial events lol despite this I hope you like it! Little Luke and Vader will go on and do more shenanigans outside of Imperial Events I promise lol. Ever since I wrote Vader finding Luke I thought about Lukes first Imperial event and wanted to write it down. 
> 
> I also wanted to add some mystery to Organa, plant a seed of curiosity in Vader. Wondering why Organa acts the way he does. Anyways, again, I hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!!!


	14. The School Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fourteen-Year-Old Luke gets dragged into a small fight at school

“I think the new kid will like you,” Luke said to his friend Aaron as he unpacked his books into his locker. Imperial City Academy was receiving a new student, the son of a General, or, so he had heard. His friend Aaron worked as a student-aide for the Academic Office and they had had asked him to give the kid a tour. 

“I prepared a speech for him when he arrives.” Aaron smiled proudly to himself, Luke looked at him perplexed.

  
“A speech? You prepared a speech!?” Luke furrowed his brow, “He is our age, not an important adult or anything.” 

“Well yeah, I just wanna be prepared.” Aaron closed his locker, Luke shut his as well. 

“When is he arriving?” Luke asked as he looked up and down the halls.

“Any minute I think..” Aaron looked around too, “We should drop off our stuff at class and meet him back at the front entrance”

“Good idea,” Luke replied as he readjusted the strap of his backpack, the walked down the hall when Luke stopped quickly, “Wait we need our book for Biology- I’ll go get mine and we can share.” 

Aaron nodded to him, Luke turned back quickly and dashed to his locker. He quickly entered his locker code and flung the door open, there was a loud bang, his locker shook and he realized his locker door had hit something. Luke pulled his locker door back slowly and saw a slightly taller boy with red hair rubbing his forehead.

“Oh stars, I am so sorry!” Luke said as he looked at the boy apologetically, “Are you okay? I can go get a nurse droid.” The boy opened his eyes and removed his hand from his forehead, he glared at Luke, making Luke feel uncomfortable.

“You just hit me with your locker!” The kid yelled, Luke stepped back nervously as the kid slammed Luke's locker closed.

“I am really sorry! I didn’t mean to, I-” The boy in front of him shoved him.

“Yeah, you're gonna be.” The boy shoved Luke and he fell to the ground on his back, kids in the hall stopped what they were doing and looked at the boy perplexed. Luke moved to sit up and rubbed the back of his head and looked at the kid with a worried expression. Luke was so perplexed and shocked this was actually happening to him, this was the kind of thing you only saw in holes.  The kid stood over him, grabbed Luke by the collar, lifted him up and punched him hard in the face. Luke fell back on the floor, he reached for his face, it stung badly, he pulled his hand back and saw blood. His nose was bleeding, the kids around them gasped.

“Hey!” Aaron yelled at the kid as he rushed over to Lukes aide, Aaron helped Luke up, Luke stumbled slightly as he kept his hand on his nose. His nose was sore and his eye was stinging badly.

“Don’t mess with me again!” The boy yelled at Luke, Luke looked at him weakly then saw the boy's angry face falter into shock. Luke then felt a hand on his shoulder, Luke turned and saw his teacher, Mr. Sereta standing over him. He was looking at the boy firmly.

“Go to the Headmasters office, now.” Mr. Sereta said firmly, the boy huffed and turned around and walked down the hallway. Mr. Sereta turned and looked at Luke, “Head the nurses office, then the Headmasters.” Luke eyes flew open.

“I’m in trouble?!” Luke asked.

“No, you're not in trouble, it's just formality.” He patted Luke on the shoulder, Luke looked at Aaron.

“I am sorry I can’t make it to class,” Luke said as he started to use his sleeve to stop his nose bleeding.

“It's fine! Go to the nurses!” Aaron insisted, Luke, sighed and walked down the hall. It was embarrassing, his nose was bleeding and he was beginning to think he was going to get a black eye. It was obvious he had just gotten beaten up, everyone side-eyed him as he passed, making him self conscious. He made a turn and saw the nurses office, he walked in.

The nurse droid had Luke sit down on a white cot and instructed him out to stop a nosebleed. Then moved over to a metallic lock box and pulled out some bacta and applied a small amount to Lukes's eye.

“Tell me how you became injured.” The droid beeped, Luke sighed and slid off the cot.

“I got in a fight, I have to go to the Headmasters because of it.” Luke walked toward the exit.

“Remember to reapply the bacta later on.” The droid reminded him, Luke smiled.

“Will do.” He turned and walked towards the administration office, which was not far off from the nurses. His stomach swirled anxiously, he didn’t want to get in trouble. He had never been in a fight before, he fiddled with his uniform anxiously and realized his sleeve was bloody from his nose. He grounded at the sight, it was quite morbid. He found the Administrations office and entered, he passed the secretary droid and walked down the office towards the Headmasters office. The door opened and Luke looked in anxiously.

He saw the Headmaster talking on his com sitting behind his large desk, he saw two seats in front of the desk. The boy who attacked him sat in one, he was supposed to sit next to him. Luke moved over slowly and sat on the seat next to the boy. Luke looked down anxiously, in the corner of his eye he saw the boy glaring at him. 

Headmaster Solmen ended the com, his eyes glanced between the two. “Alright you two, tell me what happened.” 

“This kid.” The boy pointed at Luke, “Hit me in the head with his locker!” He glared at Luke, Luke's eyes flew open at the accusation of Luke starting the fight. 

“It was an accident!” Luke explained, then Luke pointed at him, "He punched me in the face!" 

"Only because you hit me with your locker!" The boy snapped back, the two were both at the end of their seats glaring at each other.

“Alright, alright, let's settle down.” Headmaster Solmen raised his hands, “Sion,” He gestured to the boy who attacked him, “I am sure being new is tough, but I am sure Luke here didn’t mean to hit you with his locker.”

“You're the new kid?!” Luke rounded.

“Yes, I am!” Sion huffed then looked at the Headmaster, “How do you know it was an accident! Maybe he did it on purpose!” Sion retorted, Luke looked at him incredulously.

“I did not!” Luke replied angrily.

“You know what, if we can’t handle it here, maybe I should call your parents.” The Headmaster picked up his com,  _ parents _ ? 

“Please, please don’t!” Luke begged, he knew how shocked his classmates would be if his father came. His father would freak out when he hears about the fight, his father would freak out when he saw his eye. Luke had hoped it would heal before he saw his father later by using good bacta, but he couldn't hide it now. 

“Fine with me, call my dad, he is a  _ General _ after all.” Sion readjusted proudly in his seat, looking at Luke smugly.

“Hello General Braven,” The Headmaster spoke into the com, “This is the Headmaster of Imperial City Academy, it would seem your son, Sion, had gotten into a fight at school today, we would like you to come pay a visit.” 

“Oh, that's just like my son! Standing up for himself!” The General said over the com, “I’ll be over there in a jiffy!” The com had ended, the Headmaster began entering another code and knew it was his fathers.

“Please, please, please don’t call my dad!” Luke begged.

“Luke, it is standard procedure.” The Headmaster said, Luke sunk anxiously in his chair and drummed his fingers on the armrest.

“Hello?” It was Lekauf.

“Hello, this is the Headmaster of Imperial City Academy, it would seem that Luke had gotten into a fight. We need his father to come down to the school.” He spoke into the com.

“Luke!? Fight!?” There was a pause, “I- I will let Lord Vader know.” Luke sunk further in his seat when the boy next to him tensed up anxiously. The Sion looked around nervously, the com was cut.

“Vader? Darth Vader?! Why is he coming!?” Sion looked between Luke and the Headmaster with a frantic look. Headmaster Solmen sighed and Luke looked to Sion.

“He is my father.” Luke shrugged, Sion’s eyes flew open in shock, he squeezed the armrests on his chair tightly.

“Darth Vader is  _ your _ father!?” He asked, Luke nodded slowly. Sion sat back in his chair nervously, the kid was incredibly tense. Luke thought that just the thought of seeing his father was punishment enough for Sion based on his reaction.

“Sion, everything will be okay!” Headmaster Solmen said, “It's just a meeting, we will work this all out.” Sion didn’t respond, Luke could hear slow concentrated breathing from Sion, he was attempting to calm himself down. 

Luke sat in his chair, anxiously waiting for his father to get here so this could be done with. Sion was still silently freaking out in his chair, Headmaster Solmen sat in his chair and continued his work as they waited for the parents to arrive. Luke ended up tapping his foot in the ground until they heard a man talking from behind the Headmasters office door. The door swooshed open and he saw a tall man wearing an Imperial uniform with an insignia that Luke recognized as a General. The General walked over to Sion and was laughing softly.

“Hey, there son!” He slapped his hand on Sions shoulder, who ended up jumping slightly. Sion looked incredibly tense, Headmaster Solmen stood up and shook hands with Sions father.

“Hello, General Braven.” Solmen straightened up and held his hands behind his back. Luke almost shot up in anxiety, he felt his father was near and searched for Luke through the force, his father wrapped his force presence around Luke. Luke tensed up slightly, his father was _mad_.

“So my son is causing you trouble, ehh?” General Braven laughed and looked at his son. Headmaster Solmen frowned.

“Sir, I would like you to take this seriously.” Solmen adjusted the glasses on his face.

“Oh, of course I take it seriously-” General Braven took a look at Luke, “Looks like you knocked him up pretty good.” General Braven laughed for a bit, meanwhile, his son looked quite petrified. The room waited until his father would arrive, Luke sank down in his chair anxiously.

* * *

Vader was practically fuming, anger rolled off him through the force. Someone  _ dared _ to touch his son, he would have to correct this. He couldn’t believe it when Lekauf commed him about this situation, he landed his shuttle on the landing pads outside of the school. He quickly exited the cockpit and used the force to have the exit ramp lower. He strode down the ramp and towards the school, children outside gasped at the sight of him. He opened up to the force searching for his son, once he found him he held him tight with his presence. He walked with a strong purpose, his cape billowed behind him.

He entered the school quickly, the receptionist who was on the computer gasped and her eyes widened. “L-Lord Vader.” She mumbled as she stood from her seat. He saw the sign for the administration office and walked in, he journeyed down the hall towards the Headmasters office. The staff of the school gawked at him.  He used the force to have the door flung open and walked in, the Headmaster shot up from his seat. He looked down and saw the back of his son in the chair, Luke’s head slowly turned around to face Vader and he saw it. 

“A black eye!” Vader boomed, he then looked over and saw a General, he recognized him as General Braven. He then saw a boy around Lukes age, he must have done this. He looked to the General, “Has your _son_ done this to mine!” He demanded. The boy tensed and Luke stood up to face his father, General Braven sputtered nonsense.

“It's not a big deal!” Luke held up his hands, “I am feeling better! Besides, boys will be boys!” Luke added awkwardly.

“You have been injured!” He checked through the force making sure his son wasn’t damaged any further.

“Lord Vader, if I may, I wanted to try and resolve this in a calm manner.” The Headmaster said, trying to de-escalate the situation. 

“Lord Vader.” General Braven said awkwardly, “I-I apologize for my son's misbehavior.” Vader rounded on General Braven and clenched his fists tightly.

“Your apologies do not mean anything to me, General.” He pointed hard at Braven, “Apologies do not fix my son's eye!”

“Look,” The Headmaster cut in, “At meetings like these, the children apologize for the altercation.” He could feel the Headmaster's fear rise slightly.

“I am good with that.” Luke slumped back into his seat.

“Explain what happened to me.” Vader folded his arms on his chest.

“Well, Luke opened his locker and accidentally hit Sion in the face. Sion became upset by this and hit Luke in the face.” Anger rose within him, this boy sitting next to Luke had attacked his son. He clenched his fists into tight balls, despite a strong urge to enact revenge for his son, he wouldn’t do it. Luke would undoubtedly become upset.

“L-Luke..” Sion said in a shaky voice, “I-I am sorry..” His voice wavered, Luke gave him a small smile.

“It's okay- I am sorry for hitting my locker in your face.” He laughed, his son was always too forgiving. His son in reality had no reason to apologize, he supposed this was the school's way of mending this in a civil way. Vader knew the way he would like to resolve this situation, but he knew it would upset Luke. 

The Headmaster sighed, “Well, I think that about solves it.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, “Everyone is good to go.” Vader turned to General Braven.

“You shall fix your child's insolence, General.” He pointed at Braven, “I do not want to hear that he has bothered any other child.” Vader planned on dealing with General Braven after this if he could not deal with Sion the way he would have liked to.

“Y-Yes, Lord Vader.” Braven bowed, he then turned to Sion. Sion sank in his chair under Vader's gaze, he stared at the boy and felt anger swirl around him.

“You shall never be near or touch my son, again.” He said slowly, threateningly. Sion nodded quickly, Vader turned to leave, “Come, Luke.” He walked out of the office and Luke followed close behind.

* * *

Luke was screaming internally, his father freaked out as he predicted. It was so embarrassing, Luke slumped as he followed his father out onto the landing pads.  “Why’d you have to do that!?!” Luke asked as they boarded the shuttle. Once they entered his father turned and opened a compartment and pulled out a med pack and took out some bacta. 

“Do what?” He asked then handed the bacta to Luke, “Apply it to your eye.” He added.

“You freaked them out! You tried to scare them!” Luke said as he applied the bacta to his eye, it stung slightly. He didn’t realize how sore his eye was.

“I wanted to make my point clear, that no one should harm you.” His father said, “I shall not stand for you getting hurt, you may be okay with being pushed around but I will not tolerate it.” 

“Well, you didn’t  _ have _ to scare them.” Luke shrugged, “But thank you for standing up for me.” 

“Of course, my son.” Luke smiled, “I will be in the cockpit if you would like to join me.” His father turned to enter the cockpit, Luke applied a little more bacta then put the medpack away inside the compartment his father opened. He walked into the cockpit and sat in the co-pilot's seat.

“Can I fly us home!?!” Luke asked, his father turned to Luke.

“Luke, you are fourteen, you are still too young to fly!” He lifted the shuttle and headed towards their home.

“Worth a shot.” Luke laughed, Luke sat back in his seat and smiled. His father stood up for him, even if Luke disagreed with scaring them, it still meant a lot. He knew it was his father's weird way of showing he loved Luke. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there! I hope you guys liked this new chapter update! I think I am gonna keep a consistent post schedule of every other day! Anyways, thank you for reading and I hoped you liked it! Let me know what you thought!


	15. When Luke Meets Snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four-year-old Luke joins his father on a Star Destroyer and plays in the snow for the first time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is kinda just pure fluff so enjoy <3

Some things were unavoidable, unpredictable, and complicated. The small Rebellion attack on the Imperial Depository on Vandor was unpredictable while also being quite shocking. The Depository was built in a difficult location to reach for a reason, the shipments they receive are invaluable. Coaxium being the most important of all, so the Emperor had Vader sent out to secure the location along with finding clues as to where the small band of Rebels could have gone to.

Well, this really couldn’t have come at a worse time, Luke's nanny had seemed to come down with a terrible illness that Vader did not want around his son. He would have had his Lieutenant watch Luke for only a couple hours while Vader would be working at the Palace, but now that he was scheduled for a mission to Vandor. Lieutenants were not trained for child-care for multiple days, under these circumstances, he would have to bring his son on a Star Destroyer.

While Star Destroyers were not met for children, bringing Luke would put his mind at ease since he could keep an eye on him. He had brought Luke on the  _ Devastator _ before when he was sick, though Luke stayed in his room the whole time and had a Nanny watching him. That had only been a few months ago, he would have to explain Luke the rules on the ship once again.

At the moment, Vader was flying up to the  _ Devastator _ with Luke watching in awe. “It's so big!” Luke smiled, he could feel Luke’s anticipation rise in through the force. “How many people do you think are on it?” He asked his father.

“Just under 50,000 people work on the ship, my son.” Vader told Luke, Luke gasped at the number.

“What planet are we going to?” Luke said as he sat on the edge of his seat.

“We are going to Vandor, it will be cold there.” Vader informed Luke, he then landed the shuttle in his private hangar. Vader stood, “I have made sure to pack your clothes accordingly.” Luke slid out of his chair.

“Will there be snow!!” Luke asked with a small jump of excitement, ever since Luke had seen snow on the holovid he had wanted to see it. It didn’t snow in Imperial City on Coruscant, it only snowed on the polar caps.

“Yes, there will be snow. The entire planet is covered with snow, my son.” He walked towards the panel punched in the command for the exit ramp to lower, Luke followed close behind.

“The entire planet! Wow!” Luke smiled, the ramp fully lowered and Vader strode down the ramp. A line up of storm troopers flanked on either side of them held the salute position with Admiral Montferrat waiting at the end of the ramp to meet them. 

“Lord Vader,” He bowed as Vader came closer, “It is an honor to have you aboard, my Lord.” 

“Have you set the coordinates to Vandor, Admiral?” Vader asked Montferrat as they walked through the hangar, he could feel Luke kept a tight hold onto his cape trying to keep up.

“Yes, my Lord, we are set for hyperspace.” Vader stopped once they reached the exit that led into the halls of the ship. 

“Have this ship put into hyperspace immediately, I do not want to waste any time. I shall meet you at the bridge to further discuss plans once we get to Vandor.” 

“At once, my Lord.” Montferrat bowed and walked out of the hangar, Vader turned to his son who looked up at him with wide eyes.

“You shall wait in the room I have prepared for you.” He pointed at Luke, Luke dropped his mouth open.

“Wait in the room!?” Luke whined, “I wanna see the ship father! The room will be boring.” Luke moped.

“Lekauf will meet with you shortly with the items you have packed, you will soon have your toys so you will not be bored.” He looked down at his son's blond hair, Luke was facing the ground and slouched slightly.

“Can’t I be with you until Lekaf gets here?” Luke muttered, “Please?...” The sight was so pitiful. Vader studied Luke for a moment, perhaps Luke could just be by his side until Lekauf arrived. He would have to make sure Luke doesn’t touch anything though.

“Very well, you may join me on the bridge. Stay close to me, the ship is very large.” Luke's eyes lit up.

“Thank you! Thank you!” Luke jumped.

“Follow me, little one,” Vader said then turned around and strode down the hall towards a turbo lift, Luke held onto his cape and followed. 

“I am so excited!” Luke bounced as they walked into the turbo-lift. Luke smiled and waited anxiously for them to reach the level. Once the lift doors opened Vader walked out, there were stormtroopers and officers walking the hall. Luke gripped his cape as they walked down the hall. He could feel his son's amazement grow in the force, his child could be entertained so easily.  Every officer that passed stared at his four-year-old, no doubt they had heard of Luke when he was here the first time. He kept forward and once they reached the entrance of the bridge, he turned to his son.

“Do not touch anything and stay right by my side” He pointed at Luke, Luke nodded his head quickly and smiled. He turned and entered the bridge, the bridge was the brains of the ship. Once he walked in, Admiral Montferrat saluted Vader. 

“Lord Vader, we are about to enter hyperspace.” Montferrat then noticed Luke, who was scanning the room in amazement. 

“Go ahead, Admiral.” He then turned to Luke, “Follow me.” He led Luke down the center walkway in the bridge and positioned Luke to stand right in front of the large transparisteel viewports. Watching the jump to hyperspace up in the bridge would surely amaze his son, “Watch the viewport, Luke.” 

Luke watched with interest, for a brief moment they stood silently looking into the vastness of space with the glow of Coruscant beneath them. Vader believed his son would appreciate the view of hyperspace. Then white streaks appeared and then the ship fully jumped into hyperspace. 

“Wow!” Luke smiled, “That was so pretty!” Now the blue swirls of hyperspace were the only view, casting a blue shadow through the bridge. His com then went off, Vader picked up his com and saw it was Lekauf.

“I have begun moving Lukes items into his room in your personal quarters, my Lord,” Lekauf said.

“I will be down shortly with Luke, Lieutenant.” He then ended the com and looked at Luke. “Follow me, I will bring you to Lekauf.” Luke slumped slightly.

“Okay..” Vader walked back down the bridge up to Admiral Montferrat.

“Once I return, we shall discuss Vandor.” Montferrat nodded then quickly bowed.

  
“Yes, my Lord.” Vader then walked out of the bridge and back towards the hangar he and Luke came from. Luke was not as excited to stay in his room, Luke wanted to be with Vader. Unfortunately, he didn’t think what he did for a living would be very entertaining for Luke. They eventually made it back to the hangar where Lekauf was ordering stormtroopers to move boxes of Luke's stuff into his room. 

Lekauf turned around, he gripped his datapad as he walked towards Vader. “Greetings, my Lord.” Lekauf bowed.

“Hi, Lekaf!” Luke waved, Lekauf smiled.

“Hi Luke, how are you liking the star destroyer?” Lekauf bent his knees slightly as he addressed his son.

“I like it a lot, it's really big!” Vader then set his hand on Lukes head.

“Watch over my son while I am preoccupied on the bridge.” Lekauf bowed.

“As you wish, my Lord.” Lekauf extended his hand for Luke to take, “Let's go find something for you to do.” He laughed, Luke took his hand and walked towards the boxes of his stuff that were still being moved to his room. Vader stared at the two for a moment before he walked away and headed to the bridge.

* * *

As the week passed, Luke slowly got used to life on a Star Destroyer. He was able to fall in routine easily, Luke was given tours around the ship by Lekauf while Vader worked. Although, he had run off more than once to find Vader. Overall, bringing his four-year-old was not as chaotic as he had once assumed it would be. 

When they arrived at Vandor he flew down to the Depository, officers who ran it informed Vader of the small attack. It came as a surprise, they had stolen a fair amount of Coaxium and left. Initially thought to be Rebels, though this seems much more like a raid run by pirates. Coaxium was a valuable material that could be sold for a large amount of credits. 

Where they could have gone was still unknown, Vader had ordered search parties to the nearest systems. He would have to inform the Emperor everything about the raid and see where he wanted to go from there. He was flying back to the  _ Devastator _ from Vandor, he had promised Luke he would bring him on the planet and let him see the snow. He finally reached the hangar and landed the shuttle, he walked down the exit ramp and saw his son. Luke was wearing a big jacket and a knitted cap.

“Father!” He ran towards the ramp, “Are we going to see the snow!?” Just then Lekauf came running into the hangar with a scarf.

“Luke, you're gonna need this!” Lekauf wrapped the scarf around Luke so only his eyes were showing.

“It's too much!” Luke said in a muffled voice covered by the scarf. 

“Luke, the snow is really cold.” Lekauf smiled, “I would want more layers on then not have enough layers.” Luke huffed.

“Follow me, my son,” Vader said then walked back up the ramp. Luke moved up the ramp excitedly, they both walked in the cockpit. Luke climbed into the co-pilot’s seat and Vader lifted the shuttle and flew down to Vandor. He would fly to a remote spot on the planet, away from the Depository so Luke could enjoy the snow.

Luke sat up in his seat and watched expectantly as they slowly moved down to Vandor. Vader flew to a remote area between a large mountain range. Luke's excitement rose through the force once he saw the mountains, he had never seen anything like this in his short life. He lowered the shuttle on a flat clearing, Luke jumped out of his seat and ran out of the cockpit. Vader sat up from the pilot's seat and followed Luke who was jumping by the exit. The exit ramp lowered and Luke walked out, snow slowly drifted from the sky. Luke tried catching them with his mittens.

“If you get too cold, you will have to tell me,” Vader said as he followed his son into the snow. Luke nodded and picked up the snow.

“Woaaah!” Luke gasped, “It's so pretty.” He held it close to his face, looking at the sparkle in the sunlight. Luke then took notice of his breath puff out and was equally amazed by that. “Is that my breath!?” 

“Yes, it is, my son.” Vader watched as his child was simply amazed by everything, it never ceased to amuse him. Luke grabbed a handful of snow and made it into a compact ball.

“Snow is fun,” Luke smiled, Vader stood watching by the ramp with his arms folded. Luke made marks in the snow and made weird sculptures out of the snow. Lukes face slowly flushed due to the cold, the snow was so steep it came up to his son's knees. Luke was constantly amazed with the snow, eventually though, Luke sneezed.

“We should leave now, my son, before you get another cold.” Luke looked up and sniffled, he then nodded his head and walked towards Vader. Luke held out his hand, Vader grabbed it and walked back into the shuttle. Luke sniffled as the exit ramp closed.

“Did you like the snow, little one?” Vader asked as he looked down at his small son, Luke unraveled the scarf around his face and smiled.

“Yeah! It was so cold.” Luke shivered slightly, even with his winter coat he was beginning to shiver. Vader rushed Luke to the cockpit and lifted the shuttle quickly, he did not want his son to be freezing for much longer. Luke jittered silently in the seat next to him, he looked slightly miserable. 

“Thank you.” Luke sniffled, “For letting me play in the snow, father.” Luke smiled, his face was flushed from the cold air. 

“Of course, my son,” Vader said, he flew the shuttle back up to the  _ Devastator _ and gently landed in the shuttle. Vader walked off the shuttle with Luke close behind, he turned to Luke.”You must put something warm on, little one.” 

“Okay! Can I have hot chocolate please?” Luke smiled, Vader wasn’t even sure if the ship had the drink. 

“I will see if that can be arranged, my son.” He patted Luke on the head and they both walked out of the hangar, his son proceeded to tell Vader all the wonderful things about snow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked this! I liked writing it, it was so wholesome! Anyways, let me know what you guys think! I love hearing what you guys thought of the chapter!


	16. The Secret Halls of the Imperial Palace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fifteen-year-old Luke find a secret passage and explores it

Luke walked down the Imperial Palace’s halls with his friend Aaron, this was yet another Imperial event dinner party. They were excruciatingly boring and long, Luke had already finished his meal and the party would be over within the hour. Luke was feeling tired and didn’t want to fall asleep at the large table again, something he was prone to do at these events. Luke decided to walk the halls with his friend until his father connected through their bond and told them it was time to go.

“-And so my mother wants me to do some weird internship.” Aaron laughed, Luke didn’t say anything, he stared off into the distance. “Luke?” He heard Aaron say, Luke blinked quickly awakening from his gaze. He looked at Aaron who looked at Luke concerned. “Are you alright?” 

“Yeah.” Luke yawned, “Just tired.” Aaron laughed.

“At least you haven’t fallen asleep like usual.” He nudged him, Luke screwed his face in embarrassment.

“I don’t fall asleep all the time!” Luke retorted.

“Not all the time, but usually.” Luke rolled his eyes as he laughed. Aaron then looked up and down the halls, “We should probably head back now.” Luke nodded, it was getting late anyways and he wanted to get to bed soon. Luke stopped in the hall and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Yeah probably.” Aaron stopped as well then leaned back against the wall and folded his arms.

“Maybe there will be some dessert lef-” Aaron was cut off by a soft grinding, Aaron jumped from the wall and stood by Luke. They both stared in shock as a small rectangular shape on the lower half moved back a few centimeters and over to the side, revealing a small dark hole. They both stared in silence, their mouths agape.

“What is that?..” Luke finally said.

“I don’t know..” Aaron whispered, they both stared for a few moments longer. Luke then glanced side to side down the hall, they were alone. Luke moved slowly towards the hole, “Hey! What are you doing!?” Aaron hissed.

Luke crouched down and turned his head back to Aaron, “I just want to see what's in there.” Aaron’s stared at him bewildered.

“Are you crazy?! It's probably dangerous!” he warned as he crouched by the small entrance by Luke, Luke shrugged.

“How? It's not like there is a monster down there or something.” Luke laughed, he then hesitantly cleared the hole's entrance of cobwebs, they got caught on his sleeve and he frantically rubbed them off with a small groan of disgust. Aaron snickered, Luke inched closer to the entry and swallowed hard. “I’m going in.”

Luke slid his feet in, his legs dangled as he sat on the floor. Luke began to wonder how far the drop was, Luke jumped in. Dust flew around his face once he made impact on the dusty ground, Luke squinted his eyes to adjust to the dark. He looked around, there was a dark long hallway ahead of him. 

“You okay down there!?” Aaron asked, Luke looked up at the small entrance he jumped through.

“Yeah! Come down!” Luke said, he saw Aarons feet come through the hole slowly and he jumped down. Aaron coughed as he waved his hand to clear the dust that flew around in the air, he squinted his eyes down the dark hall.

“Woah..” he whispered, “A secret corridor?” 

“I guess.” They both stared down the dark and seemingly endless hallway. Luke started to get chills, the more he observed the hall the more creepy it looked. The walls were old cracked grey stone, splattered with stains of some mysterious liquid. Cobwebs dangled from the ceiling, along with a mysterious atmosphere. It smelled of old mildew, the ground was covered in dirt, it was like out of a holovid. 

“We should probably get out of here,” Luke said, Aaron nodded and they both looked up and realized that was quite impossible. The entrance they came through was too high up, but it didn’t stop Luke from trying to jump. Luke stood close to the wall and jumped as high as he could with his hands stuck in the air so he could grab the ledge.

Unfortunately for Luke, he was not the tallest boy around. Luke kept trying until it was painfully obvious that he couldn’t get out. He was considering opening his bond to his father to ask for help but he would probably be grounded for even jumping down in the secret tunnel. No, there had to be an exit at the other end of the hall.

“We need to go down the hall,” Luke stated matter of factly, Aaron turned his head and looked down the hall.

“You think there will be another exit!?” he asked, slightly frantic.

“There has to be, why else would there be a hall if not to lead to somewhere?” Luke reasoned, Aaron stared at him for a minute, slightly concerned and nodded. “Follow me.” Luke walked ahead and slowly made his way down the dark hallway. It was incredibly dark and Luke couldn’t see a thing. Aaron walked close behind him, the only thing heard was the sound of their soft footsteps.

They walked down the hall in complete silence, they turned down every turn that came. Luke attempted to create a mental map of where they might be in the palace but it was almost impossible. Luke was wondering if this tunnel even had an end, and if it did, where did it lead to. More than once did Luke and Aaron sneeze due to the dust that wafted through the secret tunnel. 

“Stars, this hallway is long.” Aaron sighed, Luke then stopped quickly and Aaron bumped into his back.”What is it?” 

“Another path.” Luke said, in front of him the hall way split into two going opposite directions. “Which one you want to take?” He asked, Aaron was silent for a moment.

“Left,” he whispered, Luke let out a nervous breath and turned left. They continued to walk down the dark hall until they came to a wall. “Dead end.” he huffed.

“Hey, maybe it has a secret entrance like the one we came in.” Luke shrugged, he examined the wall. He ran his hand over the cold rough stone, seeing if maybe it was like the way they got in. Aaron pressed over the stone as well, Luke huffed and kicked the wall in frustration.

“Ow!” Luke hissed as he grabbed his foot, he then felt a quick tapping in his shoulder. 

“Look! It's moving.” Aaron whispered, Luke let out a breath of shock as they watched the wall move. Once the entryway was clear, Luke peered into the room. It was the Emperor's Throne room. Finally, they were out, and Luke knew where exactly they were in the palace. The Emperor was at the party so he was not in the throne room, so they could come back without anyone knowing they were gone. 

“Follow me,” Luke whispered back to Aaron, Luke exited the tunnel and stepped out into the throne room. Something red flashed in the corner of his eye and before Luke could react a bright red zapped in front of him and swung down. Luke fell to the ground and looked up in shock. Standing over him was a Praetorian guard, the guard took a couple of steps back and turned off their weapon. 

“Luke!” Aaron breathed, Luke took a few moments and looked down on the ground and saw a gut-wrenching sight. A hand sat a few meters away from him, he stared at it in shock.

“W-Whos hand..” Luke choked then looked down where his hand was supposed to be but found that it was gone. He stared in shock and then the pain set it. Waves of searing pain spread through and he pulled his arm into himself and doubled over. His vision blurred slightly and he felt incredibly light-headed.

“Luke!” Aaron scrambled over from the tunnel entrance over to Lukes's side then looked up at the Praetorian guard. “Are you gonna help him!?” The guard stammered for a moment then grabbed Luke by the arm and helped pull him up, Luke staggered and felt like the room was spinning. The guard then looked at them for a few moments before running out of the throne room. “Wait!!” Aaron yelled, he then turned back to Luke who was crumpled over.

“My-My hand,” Luke muttered, Aaron wrapped Luke's arm over his shoulder and walked out of the throne room. They quickly walked down the hall, Luke held his stump close to his chest. He stumbled side to side, he felt light-headed from pure shock and seeing his hand on the ground. The pain was still strong, the shock began to wean and tears streamed out of his eyes. Aaron patted Luke's back reassuringly.

“It's gonna be okay!” Aaron insisted, Luke didn’t say anything. He squeezed his eyes tightly as he held back more tears. Finally, they reached the grand dining room doors, Aaron pushed them open. Everyone in the dining room were all sitting around the large table, all chatting with each other. “Help!!!” Aaron yelled out to the crowd, if Luke didn’t have his hand chopped off he would have felt embarrassed to have the entire dining room's attention drawn to him. Right now, he didn’t care, he felt like collapsing on the floor out of pure shock.

Luke pulled away from Aaron and leaned against the frame of the doors, he looked into the crowd but his vision was blurring. Everyone stared at the two boys, Luke saw a large dark figure quickly make their way towards Luke. Luke then felt being lifted from the ground, Luke blinked his eyes trying to clear his vision. 

“Father?” Luke asked, his father didn’t respond, his father grabbed his wrist and looked where Lukes's hand was chopped off. 

“Where is his hand currently?” He heard his father asked in a calm yet urgent voice, perhaps his father wasn’t too worried or wasn’t trying to scare his friend just yet. He then heard his friend Aaron let out a nervous breath. 

“We- We left it..” Aaron said in a small voice, he felt his father grip Luke tightly. 

“You left it?!” Aaron nodded dumbly, “Follow me, Luke’s friend. Tell me everything that transpired.” His father moved out of the doorway and started making his way down the hall. He heard his friend walking quickly, trying to keep up with his father's long strides. Luke just looked up at the ceiling, trying not to look at his injury again or he would faint. “How did this happen, who did this to him!?”

“Am I gonna die?” Luke asked nervously, Luke curled into himself slightly. He found he was shaking slightly.

“No! Do not say something like that ever again!” His father reprimanded. “Who has done this!? How did this happen!?” His father asked again, losing his patience. Aaron flinched slightly, they made it out to the landing pads.

“One of the guards in the throne room sir- er, my Lord.” Aaron stammered, they had stopped in front of the shuttle. The ramp began to lower and Aaron shuffled awkwardly.

“You are dismissed, Luke's friend.” His father said, “I will find out what you two were doing in the throne room afterward.” Aaron nodded awkwardly and ran back into the palace, Luke's father walked into the shuttle and into the cockpit. He slowly placed Luke in the copilot's seat and started the ignition sequence. Luke held his arm close to his chest and hunched over, the pain still was unbelievable. 

The ship lifted quickly and his father began to fly towards the hospital, “It...hurts..” Luke mumbled.

“I know my son, we shall have it mended soon.” His father reassured him, the shuttle moved fast through Coruscanti traffic. Luke wavered side to side as his father swiftly maneuvered through the speeders, soon enough the speeder landed on a landing pad in front of the hospital. Luke moved to stand up but his father scooped him up again.

“You don’t have to carry me.” Luke weakly protested, his father didn’t respond he just carried Luke off the shuttle and towards the entrance of the hospital. He quickly walked into the waiting room, Luke heard a collective gasp of everyone in the room. 

His father was not going to wait apparently, his father went straight through the Emergency room doors. Doctors and nurses gasped at the sight, Luke closed his eyes in slight embarrassment. “Bring me a doctor right away.” His father demanded. A nurse quickly rushed over with a gurney, Luke was then gently laid on the gurney. 

Luke rolled his head to his shoulder and held tight to his father's cape. “I will bring him to a room right now, my Lord!” A nurse said, her voice wavered as she looked up at Luke's father. She then began to move the gurney down the hall to find a private room, Luke clutched his arm and rolled side to side holding in his cries.

In this midst of this, he felt his father brush up against their bond.

_ “I will not leave your side.” His father reassured him. _

Luke didn’t get the chance to respond, but it reassured him. 

* * *

Vader watched as his son was being fitted for a prosthetic hand, something Luke was too young to have to experience. He shouldn’t have to do this, but that insolent guard had hurt his son. He would find that guard and make him pay, he was a coward for running. The dark side swirled around him and he clenched his fists tightly, Luke sat straight in his hospital bed with the blankets on as his prosthetic was fitted. Vader stood watching and then folded his arms over his chest.

“Can you try moving the hand, Luke?” The doctor asked, Luke sighed and wiggled the cybernetic hand. The synth skin was high quality, almost as if Luke never lost his hand. Luke frowned slightly and contorted his face.

“It feels weird..” Luke mumbled.

“I know.” The doctor sighed, “It will take some time to get used to it, but it's in working condition.”

“Thank you,” Luke said softly as he held his hand closer to his face to observe it. 

“Well, I’d say Luke is good to go, Lord Vader.” The doctor said facing him, “I have a prescription for pain medicine for Luke ready.”

“Send it to my Lieutenant,” Vader instructed, the doctor bowed.

“At once, my Lord.” The doctor then turned to Luke, “Goodbye, Luke. Let me know if something goes wrong with your cybernetics.” Luke nodded and the doctor left. The room was silent as Vader stared at his son, who was staring at his hand. 

“I wish doctors still gave lollipops if you were a good patient.” Luke laughed awkwardly then looked up to Vader who was still staring at him. He blinked at him confused. “What?” 

“Why were you and your friend in the throne room?” Vader asked, Luke jumped slightly in his bed and folded his arms.

“You're really asking me that now!?” Luke held up his cybernetic hand as in signaling bad timing, Luke looked at him baffled.

“Yes, I fail to see why this is a bad time to discuss it.” Luke’s eyes widened.

“Because I just lost my hand!!” Luke grabbed his wrist and shook the prosthetic for emphasis.

“Do not try and change the subject, you are perfectly capable of telling me what transpired.” Vader insisted, Luke slumped in his bed slightly and huffed.

“Well- me and Aaron were walking around the halls of the palace. We were about to turn back when Aaron leaned back on the wall revealing some weird hole in the wall!” Luke smiled and Vader felt a spike of excitement from his son as he retold his mini-adventure. “I-I wanted to explore it..” Luke paused, “So, we walked through the weird old tunnel and came to a dead end. We opened it and it led to the throne room.”

Vader let out a sigh as his son finished the story and just stared at Luke, he truly was his father's son. He remembered in an old life exploring the same tunnels, even so, they were dangerous. “Do you realize how dangerous those tunnels are? Going through those tunnels is not allowed!” Vader reprimanded.

“Well I didn’t know that!” Luke exclaimed, “It's not like there is a sign that says  _ Don’t go through the secret tunnels  _ anywhere throughout the palace!” 

“What about exploring a secret tunnel that was hidden seems acceptable to you?” Vader pointed at his son, “You should have known better!” Luke sighed.

“I am sorry..” Luke mumbled.

“You are grounded,” Vader stated, Luke moved to get out of his hospital bed and sighed.

“For how long?” Luke asked as he walked towards his father.

“A few days, seeing as you lost your hand seems punishment enough.” Luke groaned.

“Okaaay..” They walked out of the hospital room and out of the hospital. Once Luke spotted the shuttle he jumped slightly. “Oh, can I fly!? Please!” 

“Luke, you are fifteen, as well as being grounded.” The shuttle ramp began to lower, “Flying is out of the question.”

“Will you teach me how to fly soon?” Luke asked as they boarded the ship.

“Yes, my son. I will teach you soon.” Luke smiled and they entered the cockpit, Luke plopped into the co-pilot's seat and rubbed his cybernetics. Vader lifted the shuttle and flew back to his hangar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked this update! 
> 
> Aso, I am pretty sure praetorian guards weapons have plasma like a lightsaber so his skin kinda melted together. If I am wrong let me know so I can update the chapter.
> 
> Let me know what you guys think! I love to hear from you and comments fuel me lol anyways thank you for reading!


	17. The School Dance Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fourteen-year-old Luke grows anxious about the school dance when he finds out someone wants to go with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is a new chapter!!! The last chapter I posted will be updated after I found out more information about the guards lol thank you for reading!

Luke shuffled through his closet looking for something to wear at the Emperor's Ball, an annual event in the celebration of the oh so great Emperor. He pulled out a sleek black outfit from his closet and quickly put it on. He sighed as he looked in the mirror, it was going to be like any other Imperial Event, boring. His bedroom door swooshed open and saw his father come into the room.

“Hows the ‘fit?” Luke asked with a smile as he pulled on his tunic to show off his fancy outfit.

“Fit?” His father asked as he crossed his arms.

“Yeah, its short for outfit.” Luke replied, his father sighed and walked up to him and adjusted his collar and straightened his hair.

“Your outfit is fine, your hair on the other hand...” His father said, Luke sighed. He couldn’t help his hair just magically went all over the place. “We must leave now if we wish to be there on time.” Luke nodded and they both walked out of his room and toward the turbo-lift.

“How long will we have to be there?” Luke asked, readjusting his collar.

“Until the Emperor says we can leave.” He heard his father's disappointment in his voice, “But I believe he will only want us there for a few hours.” Luke shivered at the mention of that old man, Luke hated him and so did his father.

The lift doors opened to the hangar, a line up of stormtroopers led the way to the ramp of the shuttle. His father strode ahead of him, Luke close behind. In these moments where his father was walking ahead of him, he always was reminded how short he was. He was just under his father's chest, Luke shoved his hands in his pockets as they walked up the ramp. They walked into the cockpit, Luke sat in the co-pilot's seat and his father lifted the shuttle. 

“I hope I don’t fall asleep at this one.” Luke sighed as the shuttle flew towards the Imperial Palace. He felt amusement from his father through their bond.

“If it is like any other event, I am sure you will.” His father replied, Luke shrugged. He usually fell asleep due to how boring it was, he would always wake up slightly embarrassed. Luke looked out the transparisteel viewport over the city, the sun was setting. The city glowed, the lights reflected on the viewport. Luke watched the passing buildings wishing the event would just be canceled. As they flew over the city, Luke caught a glimpse of his school down below then remembered the event at his school that was coming up. The dance, Luke thought it looked like fun based on the flyers passed around the school but figured it would be like any other school event. Heavily monitored by adults with an Imperial theme, still, it was the first school dance of the year at his high school and he wanted to go. There was a lot of pressure for people to get dates, an idea that stressed Luke out considerably. Luke found the belief that boys had to ask incredibly unfair and was a sure way to lead to embarrassment.

The shuttle landed on the landing pads outside of the palace, Luke followed his father off the shuttle. The press was always outside with their cameras waiting to see who would come to the Ball. His father lifted his hand and crushed their cameras as they passed, his father did his best to keep Luke out of the public eye. Luke laughed softly as the press audibly complained about the broken equipment. They walked into the palace, music from the ballroom played in the distance. High Imperials sat out in the hall chatting with each other, drinking from their glasses. 

Luke followed his father down the hall and looked around, Luke let out a weary breath as they entered the ballroom. Luke knew he had to speak with the Emperor first before doing anything. As they neared the Emperor his yellow eyes darted over to Luke, a small smile grew on his wrinkled face. Not a warm and welcoming one, but one that sent chills down Luke's spine. His father bowed towards the Emperor.

“Lord Vader and his offspring.” The Emperor laughed, Luke squeezed his hands into fists and opened them as his nerves grew. 

“Good Evening, my master.” His father replied, the Emperor turned his attention to Luke.

“Hello, young Skywalker.” The Emperor said slowly, “Enjoying the party?” Luke held his face straight but rolled his eyes internally.  _ He had just gotten here _ , but Luke kept his annoyances to himself and bowed towards the Emperor.

“Yes I am, your highness.” Luke didn’t know where to look when he looked at the Emperor, he usually looked anywhere but the eyes. 

“It is wonderful to see you at Imperial Events, young Skywalker." The Emperor smiled, "You may go, young Skywalker. Do not cause a disturbance at my party.” The Emperor laughed, attempting to give off a light demeanor. The Emperor was tricky, he always had a motive and you always had to be two steps ahead of him. His father had taught him how to build up his shields, though apparently they were weak. Luke was sure his shields couldn’t stand a chance if the Emperor truly wanted to know what Luke was feeling.

“Yes, your highness.” Luke bowed, he looked to his father and smiled then walked away from the throne. Luke let out a loud sigh as he headed over to where most of the children would be. He walked over to his friend Aaron who was talking with a group of kids.

“Hey what's going on?” Luke asked Aaron, Aaron looked over and smiled.

“They are talking about the school dance that's coming up.” Aaron sighed and furrowed his eyebrows and folded his arms over his chest. Aaron was anxious, the idea of asking a girl to the dance did not sit well with him. 

“I am not going with you Dash, quite asking,” A girl named Hallie Randd said as crossed her arms and looked at Dash annoyed. Dash contorted his face in frustration.

“Stop being so stubborn Hallie!” He huffed, "I am going to get some punch.." He said quietly and stormed off, Hallie just rolled her eyes. She then turned to Luke and her eyes brightened.

“Oh, hey Luke. Are you going to the dance?” She smiled as she twirled her coily hair between her fingers, Luke cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Uh- I don’t- I’m not sure...Probably” Luke coughed awkwardly and tensed, Hallie laughed.

“Do you have a date?” Hallie asked with half a smile. Luke blinked quickly and swallowed hard. 

“Uh- No, I- I haven’t asked anyone...yet." Luke fiddled with his tunic awkwardly. Somehow talking with a girl about the dance was way more awkward, especially since he didn't know Hallie that well and she was considerably popular at the school. He wanted to find a way out of the conversation, he wasn't really sure how to talk to girls anyways.

“I don’t have a date either.” Hallie shrugged and looked at Luke with a somewhat expectant look, Luke wasn’t sure what she wanted or where the conversation was going. Hallie then loudly sighed, “Hopefully someone asks me soon..” She said staring at Luke the entire time, Luke then spotted an open door that led to the balconies overlooking the city.

“Good luck with that,” Luke said then quickly darted towards the balcony doors. He walked out onto the balcony, the sun had fully set. A couple of the older kids sat out here with their significant others and looked out over the glowing city. Luke had to admit, even though he saw this view a million times, it was still breathtaking. 

Luke walked up to the rail in an almost empty part of the balcony and just looked off at the view, watching the Coruscanti traffic cut across and move smoothly. Luke folded his arms on the rail and sighed, wishing the event would end soon. The cool night air whipped his hair around and made Luke shiver slightly. Luke felt someone stand next to him, Luke looked over and saw Aaron.

“Luke, couldn't you see where the conversation with Hallie was going!?” Aaron asked excitedly, Luke looked at him confused.

“Huh?” Luke asked confused, now facing Aaron.

“Hallie wants you to ask her! To the dance!” Aaron emphasised, Luke's eyes flew open. She wanted to go to the dance with him? 

“How do you know!?” Luke asked frantically.

“It was obvious!! Luke, go ask her!” Aaron encouraged, Luke began to breathe quickly and felt anxiety swirl in his stomach. 

"But I thought we were gonna go together without dates! What about you!" Luke asked nervously, trying to get out of asking a girl.

"I'll be fine! Hallie Randd wants to go with you! Ask her!" Aaron pushed.

“I-I can’t!” Luke squeaked, Aaron rolled his eyes.

“You can! And you will!” He grabbed Lukes's shoulder and brought him back to the entrance of the party. Luke struggled to get away from Aarons grasp but froze once they entered the ballroom. Luke’s eyes were stuck on Hallie who was talking with another girl. “You got this man!” He pushed Luke into the ballroom. 

Luke looked back at his friend nervously, Aaron stood in the doorway of the ballroom and waved Luke to move forward. Luke looked back nervously, took in a deep breath, then marched forward towards Hallie. Hallie took notice of Luke and watched as he came closer, Luke grew more anxious with each step. Just as he felt a small burst of confidence when Hallie smiled in his direction, Luke then stumbled on his feet and flew down to the ground in front of Hallie.

Luke fell on his back and took a moment and let out a shaky breath, his brain slowly accepting what had just happened. He quickly scrambled up, he looked at Hallie nervously as he heard people softly snickering around him. Luke flushed brightly as Hallie looked at him in shock. Luke couldn’t stand being under these people's ridicule any longer, he ran out of the ballroom and into the halls.

Luke leaned back against a wall and slid down to the ground and pulled his knees into his chest. He hid his face, embarrassed for tripping in front of everyone. Luke let out a shaky breath, he then felt his father's force presence brush up against him.

_ “What is troubling you, my son?” His father asked through their bond. “You are spilling your emotions into the force.” Luke felt slightly embarrassed his feelings were being blasted into the force, but the only people who would be able to tell was his father and... the Emperor. He grimaced at the thought of him. _

_ “No- I am fine, where are you?” Luke asked. _

_ “In the ballroom.” His father replied. _

Luke cut the connection and stood up in the hall and let out a loud sigh, he was too embarrassed to hang out with the kids his age. He couldn't possibly ask Hallie to the dance right now, so he decided he would just be with his father. Even though it would be boring as his father would just be talking with boring adults but it would be better than being laughed at.

Luke walked back into the ballroom, trying to hide from everyone he embarrassed himself in front of. The ballroom was almost divided with one side adults and the children on the other, Luke headed to the large group of adults. He slipped through in between the crowd quickly, trying not to bump into people. Finding his father is not difficult, his father was very tall and stood out in a crowd. His father turned to Luke as he got closer.

“What are you doing here, my son?” His father asked. “Why are you not with the other children, surely speaking with adults is not entertaining for you.” 

“Can’t a kid hang out with his own father?” Luke laughed awkwardly, his father folded his arms. Luke scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Okay I- I slipped on the floor in front of everyone and some people laughed.” 

“You should not care what the other children think,” His father asked, stuff like this flew over his father's head. His father didn’t care what anyone thought about him.

“It's hard not to!” Luke whined, his father didn’t get a chance to respond as a Senator had come up to his father and spoke with him. Luke stuck by his father's side during the evening, thinking about what happened with Hallie. He couldn’t believe a girl wanted to go to the dance with him, he smiled slightly at that thought. He would have to ask his father for advice on how to ask a girl to a dance. He was sure that was going to be an awkward conversation.

As the evening passed, Luke kept wavering. Standing next to his father and listening to the conversations he had were so boring. His eyes grew heavy, every now and then he would end up leaning against his father. Soon enough, his father told him it was acceptable for them to leave. Luke was excited to go home and flop in his bed. First, they had to bid farewell to the Emperor. Luke and his father walked up to the old man and they both bowed.

"We are both grateful to have attended this event, my master." His father said, the Emperor smiled and kept his eyes on Luke.

"Of course, Lord Vader, an Imperial Event is not complete without you." The Emperor chuckled, "Young Skywalker, do tell me why you grew so upset at the party and blasted your feelings. It was rather disturbing." Lukes's eyes flew open, his heart stopped that he had to recount an embarrassing moment to the Emperor. Luke was silent for a moment, wanting to just run away from him.

"I-I slipped and fell, your highness." Luke muttered, feeling more than a little embarrassed. The Emperor just laughed sickeningly which made Luke crumble internally.

"You are a clumsy child, aren't you?" The Emperor chuckled, Luke tensed. "You always have been."

"He is only a child, my master." His father cut in, the Emperor still laughed as if he hadn't heard his father speak.

"You two may leave." Luke and his father once again bowed and walked out of the Ballroom and towards the landing pads. Luke shifted uncomfortably and sniffled, that was way more embarrassing than falling in front of the girl he was about to ask to the dance. Luke and his father could not discuss the conversation until they reached his fathers shuttle, the Emperor had spies everywhere making sure his father and others stayed loyal to him. They walked the halls in silence and eventually walked out into the landing pads. Luke felt an uncomfortable knot in his stomach as he thought over the night, to say it was a bad night was putting it lightly. They walked up the ramp to the shuttle, Luke walked into the cockpit and sat in the co-pilots seat as his father closed the ramp. Eventually, his father walked back into the cockpit.

"That was so embarrassing!" Luke complained as he raised his arms in emphasis. "That whole night was so embarrassing..."

"Do not let what the Emperor says get to you, my son. He will say anything to make those around him upset." His father instructed, Luke sighed and deflated in his seat. "He never speaks the truth, remember that." His father added as he started the ignition sequence. Luke nodded, even though he understood what his father said, the Emperor always got under his skin.

"I know.." Luke said softly as the ship lifted from the landing pads, Luke dwelled on the evening. Despite being embarrassed in front of Hallie, he was still happy she might have wanted to go to the dance with him. She probably didn't want to go with him anymore, he could find out if he could just ask her. But he just lost all words when it came with girls, he looked to his father, maybe he could ask...

"Can I ask you something?" Luke asked softly.

"Yes, you may." His father responded.

"How... How do you talk to girls? Luke asked awkwardly, "I-I just don't know how to speak to them! I don't know what they like! What they are thinking!!" 

"Girls are no different than you, their brain does not work differently." His father responded, though, it didn't really help Luke. "Why do you ask?"

"Well- it's about the dance-" Luke was quickly cut off.

"You cannot go with a date, young one. You are too young to think about such things." His father said quickly, Luke opened his eyes in shock.

"But! But!" Luke sputtered.

"No, I will not allow it." His father said with finality, Luke huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. Why was his father being so frustrating? It was just a high school dance.

"Other people are going with dates..." Luke said softly, his father didn't say anything. Luke was frustrated with his father for not letting him go with a date, seeing as the only positive of this night was the possibility of going with Hallie. Luke sighed as he considered begging to be able to have a date for the dance. Hopefully his father would change his mind. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked the latest chapter, Luke is still interested in going with a date but his father won't let him :( lol I know it's kinda cheesy but I love cheese
> 
> Let me know what you guys thought!


	18. The School Dance Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke and his friends go to the dance, Luke's first dance doesn't go exactly like he wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys like the latest chapter!

Luke never considered himself a genius, but proudly pat himself on the back for the master plan he made. After begging the rest of the week to be able to bring a date to the dance failed miserably, he knew he would have to come up with some way to bring Hallie as a date. His master plan was to simply lie, well not really lie but not tell the whole truth. His father could tell lies through the force, so he would have to be careful with how he relayed the information. Aaron had gotten a date for the dance anyways, he would be totally third-wheeling if he didn't get one.

First, though, he had to ask Hallie to the dance. Luke stood at the end of the hall in his school, Aaron stood behind him with a determined look on his face. Hallie was down the hall talking with her friends. Aaron placed a hand on Luke's shoulder. “You got this.” He whispered.

“I got this..” Luke whispered back, mostly to himself. Luke looked at Hallie for a few more moments. “I am going in..” Luke took a deep breath and Aaron patted his shoulder firmly.

“Don’t trip this time,” Aaron added, Luke turned to look at Arron and looked at him incredulously then turned around and began walking towards Hallie. Hallie’s eyes looked over to Luke and she smiled, she ended her conversation with her friend and looked towards Luke. Luke fiddled with his school jacket nervously and took another deep breath.

“H-Hi..” Luke squeaked, “Uhm,” He swallowed hard, “About the dance- I just wanted to know that if maybe you might be interested in maybe…” Luke took a deep breath, "Join me and Aaron and his date to the dance..." Luke felt slightly stupid for how he asked the question. It didn't really sound like he was asking for a date, but asking if she would join their group. Her smiles fell slightly but quickly nodded.

"Yeah, I would love to go with you guys." Hallie smiled widely, Luke felt his heart soar and smiled widely.

“Okay! Uh- My Lieutenant will pick you up around 2000.” Luke said with a soft smile, slightly disappointed it wouldn’t be a date. But this would be the next best thing, Hallie wrote down the address of her apartment and handed it to Luke.

“Sounds good, I’ll see you then!” She smiled and waved goodbye then walked down the hall to the school exit. Luke sighed as he stared after her as she disappeared through the crowd of classmates. Luke turned around and saw Aaron walk towards him.

“What happened?” Aaron asked, he looked at Luke excitedly as he waited for the answer.

“Well- She is joining our group..” Aaron looked at him confused, “I never got to ask her specifically for a date- but she is coming to the dance with us as a group.” Luke shrugged and quirked a small smile. 

“Sorry it's not a date.” Aaron shrugged, “Tonight will still be fun though.” Luke nodded and they both moved towards the school exit. They walked out to the landing pads, “See you tonight!” Aaron smiled, they waved each other goodbye and parted ways to their speeders.

* * *

“Do I look like a complete idiot!?!” Luke asked as he walked into his father's conference room, holding out his arms to show the outfit he was wearing. He was wearing one of the outfits he found in the back of his closet that was for Imperial Events. He hasn’t worn it before and wanted advice on how he looked, though, he didn't really consider his father a fashion expert.

“You do not look like an idiot.” His father replied as he put down his datapad, “I would recommend straightening your hair.” Luke looked up then quickly patted his hand on his head to smooth down his hair. Luke let out a sigh and looked at his father.

“So, about my curfew..” Luke began but was cut off.

“Your curfew is nonnegotiable.” His father stated, Luke looked at him incredulously and placed his hands on his hips.

“But it's just one night!!!” Luke whined, “Please, I would have to leave the dance early!” Luke clapped his hands together and begged. “Please!”

“No, you will be here on time.” His father replied and walked towards him, “I expect you to be back by 2200, no later. Meaning you must leave before 2200." His father held his hands behind his back.

“You are being such a sleemo!!!” Luke retorted as he balled his fists.

“You shall not call me such things!” His father pointed, “Just because you are attending a school event does not mean you can stay out later.” Luke huffed and looked down at the ground. The Dance wouldn’t be over till 2300, he would miss the last hour. It wasn’t fair but it didn’t seem like his father was willing to debate the topic. 

“Fine.” Luke huffed, “I’ll be home on time.” He crossed his arms over his chest, “But I am not happy about it.” 

“It is unfortunate you will miss the last hour, but you must come home on time,” His father crossed his arms over his chest as well, “Or you will be grounded, young one.” Luke let out a long sigh.

“Okay..” He mumbled, “I have to go now to the dance.” Luke looked back up at his father. There was silence between them for a moment. Just as he was about to leave the conference room his father placed his hand on Luke's shoulder.

“Have a good time, my son.” Luke gave him a half-smile with a small nod and turned to leave. He walked into the turbo-lift and descended to the hangar. He stood in the lift and instantly felt a wave of anxiety swirl around him, he wasn’t sure if it was just anticipation or the prospect of asking Hallie to dance. 

The lift doors swooshed open and Luke walked into the hangar, Lekauf walked out of his office and smiled. “Are you excited, Luke?” Lekauf asked as they walked to the speeder. Luke nodded as he jumped in the speeder and strapped in. 

“Yeah, just…” Luke paused, Lekauf lifted the speeder and began flying to the school. “Nervous.”

“Nervous?” Lekauf asked, “What are you nervous abou-” Lekauf paused, then looked at Luke and smiled.

"What!?" Luke asked nervously.

"Its a girl isn't it?"Lekauf laughed, Luke was silent for a moment and stared out the viewport awkwardly.

“That- May or may not be the case,” Luke said quietly as he looked out the viewport, Lekauf laughed.

“Hey Luke, no need to be nervous. Just be yourself.” Lekauf smiled, Luke gave him a small nod and a hopeful smile. They arrived at Aarons apartment landing pads and saw Aarons mother, Mrs. Thalcorr, standing over Aaron straightening his hair with Aarons date, Sanna, standing right next to him. Her eyes looked up and saw Luke and smiled.

“Luke! Get over here!!” She waved her hand over to their direction, Luke looked over at Lekauf and shrugged then jumped out of the speeder. He walked over to Aaron who looked slightly embarrassed at his mother fussing over him. “Look at you!!” Mrs. Thalcorr smiled and grabbed Luke by the shoulders and looked at his outfit. “You look so handsome.”

“Mom!” Aaron whined, Luke smiled awkwardly.

“Thank you, Mrs. Thalcorr.” Luke said softly, she patted his head then pushed the three kids close together. She then pulled out a cam from her bag that hung by her hip.

“Alright, give me big smiles.” She held the cam up to her eyes and took a picture of the two smiling boys. She looked down at the cam and smiled, “I’ll get you a copy of the picture Luke.” Luke nodded as she walked over to Aaron and gave him a tight hug. “Be safe! Have fun!” Then planted a kiss on his forehead. 

“Mom!!!” Aaron whined again and pulled away from her, she let out a sigh. Luke felt a pang of jealousy as he watched Aaron with his mother. 

“Sorry Aaron, I just can’t believe it's your first high school dance.” She placed a hand on her chest and looked at Aaron. “Alright, you three have fun ‘kay?” Luke nodded and Aaron waved to her.

“Bye, mom.” Aaron smiled, they ran back to the speeder Lekauf was sitting in. Luke gave Lekauf the address to Hallie’s apartment, the speeder flew quickly to her apartment. Luke grew increasingly nervous the closer they got, he adjusted the collar of his tunic to make sure it was straight. He didn’t want to look stupid, he took in a couple of deep breaths as Lekauf landed the speeder. Luke looked out of the viewport and saw Hallie in a purple dress with her hair in a braided updo with flowers pinned in her hair. 

Hallie hugged her parents and ran over to the speeder, she jumped in and smiled. “Hi Luke! Hi Aaron! Hey Sanna!"

"Hi, Hallie!!" Sanna smiled and hugged her. 

“Hi, Hallie.” Aaron smiled, Luke turned in his seat to look at Hallie.

“H-Hi..” Luke stammered, he heard Lekauf snicker and Luke turned back to face forward quickly. Sanna and Hallie chatted in the back the rest of the way to the school, Luke was more nervous than ever. Hallie was in his speeder now, he was too afraid to say anything to avoid saying anything stupid. Luke tapped his foot on the floor of the speeder nervously the rest of the way to the school.  Lekauf landed the speeder on the landing pads outside of the school, a large holo-projector displayed on the front of the school.

_ Imperial City Academy Dance! _

All four of them jumped out of the speeders, “Alright Luke, I am going to pick you up fifteen minutes before 2200, alright?” Lekauf said as he pointed at Luke.

“But the dance isn’t over till 2300.” Hallie said to Luke, Luke slumped his shoulders and sighed.

“It's my- my curfew.” He said miserably, after a few moments of silence Luke continued, “I will be ready to go by then.” Lekauf nodded and flew off in his speeder. Luke turned to face his friends, he expected to see disappointed faces but his friends were still smiling. “Uh- Sorry about the curfew thing.”

“It's no problem- we will still have lots of fun while you are here!” Hallie smiled, “C’mon, let's go!” Luke and Hallie walked together behind Aaron and Sanna, they all walked into the entrance of the school. Decorations lined the halls with streamers, ribbons, balloons, and confetti littering the floor. Luke and his friends walked into the gym where the dance was being held, music played and bright colored lights moved around the dance room. Crowds of kids were packed in the gym, their chatter was muffled by the music.

“Wow!” Aaron breathed.

  
“It's beautiful.” Hallie smiled, they all walked into the crowd of kids who were jumping to the music. Sanna grabbed Aarons's arm and dragged him into the dance floor, leaving just Luke and Hallie.

“I am going to get some punch.” Luke said, “Y-You wanna come with me?” He asked Hallie, she nodded.

“Sure!” Luke smiled and walked towards a large table with a white cloth covering it. On the table was a large spread of finger food and in the center a large glass bowl with red punch. Luke moved to the punch bowl and poured a cup of punch. He remembered his manners and gave it to Hallie, she smiled. Luke downed his drink quickly and coughed after he finished. 

“W-Wanna-” Luke paused, “W-Wanna dance?” Luke stammered, Hallie nodded.

“Yes!” She jumped slightly, they walked back into the crowd and danced to the music. Luke realized his anxiety was pointless, the dance was more fun then he had anticipated. They had found Aaron and Sanna dancing after a few songs and they all danced as a group and jumped to the music. Time passed, Lukes's feet began to ache. 

“You guys wanna take a break in the hall?” Hallie asked, Luke nodded they both walked into the hall. A few other classmates were standing out in the halls, the music was muffled, though, still loud. Hallie looked down at her chrono and gasped, “You only have ten minutes.” Luke shifted uncomfortably and silently cursed his stupid curfew.

“Sorry about that.” Luke laughed awkwardly.

“Don’t be sorry,” Her eyes glanced to the exit doors, “Why don't we walk around outside for a few minutes while you wait for your ride?” Luke nodded, it would be nice to wait outside in the cool quiet air. The dance was fun but the speakers were incredibly loud. They walked outside, it was mostly empty. There were one or two kids out there, possibly waiting for their rides to leave early as well, which made Luke feel slightly better.

Hallie led the way as they distanced themselves from the school landing pads, “Where are we going?” Luke asked in a hushed whisper.

“There is a park nearby we could walk until you have to leave.” Hallie smiled as she looked back at Luke. Luke was nervous that they would still be late, he would be punished if he wasn’t home on time. He didn’t want to seem lame though so he wasn’t going to say anything. Hallie led through a small winding stone path that was hiding by a thick brush of bushes and trees, honestly, Luke was slightly creeped out.

Soon they made it to a park that was lit by black street lights lining it, there was a small stone water fountain in the center with benches facing it. There were a few trees and bushes, it was quite small but it was beautiful. Though at night, it was somewhat creepy. The trees cast long black shadows which made Luke wonder if anyone was watching them. The only sound was the water trickling down in the fountain.

“It's beautiful,” Luke whispered, they walked the small path through the park. Despite being slightly creepy, it was peaceful, Luke made a mental note of this place. It was private and had lush greenery along with a fountain. It was nice to be out in the park with the cool hair bristling his hair. After being in a large crowd blaring music and jumping for an hour and a half, he needed to be in silence. 

"Its nice to be out of the huge crowd," Hallie said, Luke found himself agreeing with her. It was really hot in there due to the large amount of people crammed in there. Luke glanced down at her hand wondering if he should take it but glanced at his chrono and saw it was getting close to his pick up time. 

“We should probably hea-” Luke began but was cut off by bright lights flash in their eyes, Luke and Hallie squinted their eyes and looked to see who was coming. At first all they saw was a black silhouette, as they came closer they saw it was an Imperial Law Enforcer.

“What are you kids doing out here?” The enforcer asked as he stood in front of them. 

“We were just walking around the park,” Hallie said, slightly nervous. “Is something wrong?” 

“Yes, the park closes at 2100, in addition, minors are not allowed out past 2100.” The enforcer crossed his arms over his chest. Luke felt his heart jump into his stomach, did he just get in trouble with the law?! 

“This is a misunderstanding!” Luke started, “We were just at the school dance and was waiting for my ride and-”

“Listen, kids from the dance like to run off and hide in the parks all the time. I don’t want to hear any excuses.” The trooper pointed at them, “You two are coming with me.” Luke and Hallie gasped.

“But we were gonna-” Luke began but was cut off again.

“I don’t want to hear it, you broke the law once you left the school property and walked around the city past curfew. Now come with me.” The enforcer insisted, Hallie and Luke glanced at each other nervously. They followed the Imperial Security Enforcer to their speeder, it was hard to see in the dark but it was a military grey with a large black imperial logo tackle decal. 

They squeezed into the back of the speeder, Luke glanced down at his chrono and saw it was 2205, Lekauf would be waiting for him and was probably wondering where he was. Luke felt anxiety swirl in his stomach as the speeder lifted. “W-Where are you taking us?” Hallie asked.

“I am bringing you kids home.” The enforcer replied, “I’ll tell your parents what you kids were doing.” Welp, Luke was definitely going to be grounded. “Girl, what's your address.” The enforcer asked. Hallie gave him her address and Luke looked out over the city nervously, Lekauf was probably getting worried. 

They first stopped at Hallies, the enforcer got out and Hallie let out a soft sigh and looked at Luke. “I had a good time.” She gave him a half-smile. “Sorry for taking you to the park.”

“Don’t apologize!” Luke said, she nodded and got out of the speeder. Luke sat alone in the speeder, it was tense despite him being the only person in there. He watched as the enforcer joined Hallie in the lift and the doors closed. Lukes's heart was pounding, he felt terrible that they got in trouble. He wished his first dance had gone better, but there would be more. His mind kept running with different ways his father would react.

Luke looked down at his chrono again, it was 2215. He was way past curfew, in the back of a Security Enforcer’s speeder, this definitely didn’t look good. He saw the lift doors open and the enforcer walked out alone, he walked towards the speeder and got in. He turned in his seat and looked back at Luke.

“Blond kid, where do you live?” The enforcer asked, Luke reluctantly gave him his address and sunk in his seat. The speeder lifted and began to fly towards his home, he just knew he was going to be grounded. Luke looked out over the city below him, hit glowed brightly. The speeder traffic moved quickly, he watched as they passed the school and continued on towards his home. The enforcer took a closer look at his GPS and made a noise of confusion.

“Did you give me Lord Vader's palace address? This isn’t some joke kid, this is serious.” The enforcer said in a stern voice. Luke shook his head.

“No, really. That is my home.” Luke insisted, the enforcer looked at him in disbelief, “Would I risk all of our lives for some stupid prank?” Luke asked. The enforcer huffed and Luke gave the enforcer the clearance code of the hangar. The enforcer looked hesitant but slowly flew in the hangar. Luke instantly felt his father’s force presence around him and latched on. The shuttle landed in the hangar, Luke saw the lift doors open. His father walked out, he could feel the enforcers shock as he saw his father. The enforcer stepped out of the speeder, Luke followed reluctantly.

The enforcer was silent for a moment as he took in his fathers presence, he let out a shaky breath and bowed, “L-Lord Vader, I apologize if this is any inconvenience-” The enforcer was cut off.

“I assure you, it is a great inconvenience, officer.” His father said, anger laced in his words. “Do tell me why you have my son in your custody.” The enforcer was slightly frightened of his father, but kept a straight and stern face. Luke hovered between the two of them and looked down on the grey flooring of the hangar.

“Y-Your son was found in Pom Bloom park around 2200 with his friends. Minors are no-” The enforcer was cut off once again.

“I am aware of the law.” His father replied.

“O-Of course you do, my Lord.” The enforcer choked, “I just, I-” He sputtered but his father cut in.

"If there is any more imperative information tell me now, if not, do not waste my time." The enforcer looked at his father in shock.

"I- No, there is nothing else, my Lord." The enforcer said in a shaky voice.

“Your presence is no longer required, I shall handle this from here.” The enforcer nodded quickly and turned around and entered his speeder. Luke still looked down at the ground as the speeder flew out of the hangar. He felt his fathers gaze burn into him and grew uncomfortable as the silence between them grew. “Explain what happened.” His fathers baritone voice broke the silence, Luke looked up in silence.

“We were getting ready to leave and one of my friends recommended walking through a park while we waited for Lekauf. I guess we lost track of time and then the enforcer found us- I didn’t mean to miss Lekauf! I didn’t mean to stay past curfew!” Luke looked at his father as his father crossed his arms over his chest and examined Luke.

“You should have not left school property, especially at night.” His father reprimanded, “This city is crawling with all types of scum and villainy, you should have known better!” His father pointed at him.

“I am sorry I-I just didn’t want to seem lame!” Luke deflated.

“I hope it was worth it, young one. You are grounded.” Luke whined and looked to the floor. Just then, they saw a speeder quickly land in the hangar. Lekauf stumbled out and looked frantic.

“Lord Vader, I sent out a search party for-” Lekauf stared blankly at Luke.

“Your search party will no longer be necessary.” His father informed him as he gestured towards Luke, Luke sighed pitifully. His father had sent out a search party for him, he felt both of their eyes on him. 

Lekauf walked towards Luke and looked at him with a mix of worry and anger, “Well, I am glad he is okay.” Lekauf said in a small voice.

“You are relieved of duty for the night, Lieutenant.” His father instructed, Lekauf bowed. His father turned to Luke, “Come now, you must get to bed, young one.” His father then turned around and headed for the lift. Luke followed with his head hanging low, they walked into the lift and stood next to each other. The lift doors closed and his father crossed his arms over his chest, for a few moments there was silence. Luke wallowed in his punishment, but his father broke the silence.

“Besides breaking the law, did you have a good time, my son?” His father asked, Luke looked up at him.

“Yeah, it was pretty fun,” Luke sighed, thinking about Hallie. He feels somewhat responsible for their night being ruined. It wasn’t all bad, the dance was fun at least. He couldn't wait to tell Aaron what happened though, he probably wouldn't believe it. The lift doors opened, his father walked out first and Luke followed slowly. Luke walked into his room and collapsed on his bed, turns out he was more tired then he realized. He felt he could sleep right then in there, even in his fancy outfit for the dance. 

Luke rolled over and sat up in his bed and saw his father standing in the doorway. “Sleep well, my son.” 

“Goodnight, father.” Luke smiled, his father lingered in the doorway for a moment before leaving and closing Lukes door. Luke laid back on his bed and ended up falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg poor Luke lol, his first dance wasn't the best. Anyways, I hope you guys like the latest chapter! I struggled with this one, I hope it was good lol. 
> 
> A baby Luke chapter is coming up that's slightly inspired by Taylors Swifts song Never Grow Up which always makes me sad lol. Anyways, let me know what you guys thought, I love hearing your input, thank you for reading!


	19. First Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke says his first words

This day marked a year since he had found his son, the son that was stolen from him by the Jedi. Something so unforgivable, so twisted, so evil, something only a Jedi was capable of. He had sent search parties down on Tatooine in search for the Jedi who had done this, though he felt he may know who it was. Nothing had come from the search parties, while he would have searched the desert planet himself, he had a baby now. He didn’t expect a baby to change his life this drastically, but he was sure that his master was not happy with his new life. 

He was on his way to speak with his master, he strode through the halls of the palace. His footsteps were hard and echoed off the marbled walls, people gave him a wide berth as he passed them. He hoped his master would be quick, as a small  _ celebration _ was going to be had for Luke. Vader knew today was not Lukes birthday, but this day was impactful nonetheless. 

This day was the first day when father and son were reunited, where his life had changed. Vader didn’t really think much was worth celebrating, but this was. While this wasn’t going to be much of a celebration, he wanted to be with his son. But he couldn’t let Sidious believe his son came before the Empire, so that's why he found himself entering Sidious’s private audience chamber instead of being with Luke.

Vader walked down the red carpet that led to a dias at the end of the room with a large throne covered in jewels, Sidious was a dark crumpled figure who sat in the chair drumming his fingers. He could feel Sidious’s gaze burn into him, Vader walked to the front of the dias and kneeled before Sidious. Silence passed between the two as Sidious took in Vaders form.

"Rise, my friend,” Sidious said, finally breaking the silence. Vader stood and faced the dark lord who sat up in his chair. “The interrogation on the small group of Rebels went well, I trust?” Sidious folded his hands over each other gently.

“The group that had been captured had given little to no information on the small Rebellion movement, my master.” Vader paused, “I believe they will be willing to divulge more information once they are met with the proper amount of force.” Sidious looked slightly pleased at Vader's thinly veiled threat to the pathetic rebels. Rebels were like bugs, there weren’t many right now but if they were not treated right away they would grow quickly. Something that could not be allowed to happen. 

“I am sure you will show them what happens when someone commits treason and takes part in the Rebellion against the Empire.” Sidious laughed hoarsely, “We must not allow a Rebellion to form, Lord Vader. Find what they are hiding.” 

“Yes, my master.” Vader bowed slightly, he felt slightly disappointed he couldn’t return to his son right away. he turned around and stalked down the throne room with his cape billowing behind him. The large throne room doors opened and left, soon after he was out of Sidious’s vision he clenched his fists tightly. He would have to make the interrogations with the Rebels quick, they were the only thing holding him back from going home to his son.

He walked out of the palace towards his shuttle, up the exit ramp and into the cockpit. He started the ignition sequence and lifted the shuttle. He flew quickly in the direction of the Imperial Detention Center. Vader was not a patient man, if these Rebels did not willingly give the information Vader and the Emperor were looking for, he would force it out of them. 

* * *

Vader walked out of the Detention Center, a few hours had passed since he had arrived. He had finished interrogating the pathetic Rebels who practically crumbled under his force. They barely held up in the interrogation, Vader wondered if they truly believed to be a threat to the Empire. They reluctantly gave potential locations on where there may be small bands of rebels. Once he got home he would inform several Generals of said locations and Senators that their planet may contain Rebels. But first, he had to see his son.

He entered his shuttle and walked into the cockpit. He lifted the shuttle and quickly flew through Coruscanti traffic. He never cared to follow traffic laws, he was the best pilot in the galaxy after all. He neared his building, the second-highest in Coruscant. The Emperor's building was the tallest in Imperial City, of course, no one was allowed to build anything exceeding the Emperor's building.

The city was still cleaning up after the first Empire Day celebration, which was about 2 months ago. It was huge, the Emperor threw huge parties with fireworks bursting in the sky, which frightened his small son. Vader found that Empire Day turned out to be just a painful reminder of his old life, of everything he lost. A year since her death and yet he found that his mourning had not eased with time. 

He flew into his hangar and gently landed the shuttle, shut off the engine and left the cockpit. He walked down the ramp of his shuttle, the hangar was empty. He then saw the Lekauf’s office door swoosh open, he had a few large bags hanging off his arms stuffed with a variety of items as he worked on a datapad. Lekauf quickly looked up at Vader with a slight frantic look in his eyes and attempted to bow without the bags sliding down his arms. Vader held up his hand signaling the bow was not necessary.

“What are you holding, Lieutenant?” Vader asked as they both walked towards the turbolift. Vader walked in as Lekauf fit in, holding the bags in such a way that wouldn’t intrude on Vader's personal space.

“These-” Lekauf struggled to say as he balanced everything, “Are gifts I had gotten for Luke, via your request, my Lord.” Vader looked down into the bags and saw they were filled with toys of a different variety. Lekauf had continued to exceed Vader's expectations, which was a difficult challenge for the average man, but not for Lekauf. 

The lift doors opened to his floor, he felt his son's bright force presence glow radiantly through the force. “Bring the gifts to my conference room,” Vader instructed.

“Yes, my Lord.” Vader led the way down the hall, Lekauf shuffled behind carrying the bags, Vader reached the entrance to Luke's room. Lekauf passed behind Vader and continued down the hall, Vader pressed the control panel to Luke's room and the door swooshed open.  His son was holding on to one of the gates to his playpen, his eyes darted up to Vader and made a cheerful noise. 

“Da!” Luke yelled out as he pointed to Vader and smiled widely. His son was perhaps the only person in the galaxy that had a positive reaction to his arrival. Luke's nanny, Miss Berik, bowed once Vader entered the room.

“Greetings, my Lord,” Berik said in a small voice, though Vader almost didn’t hear her. He walked up to his son, Luke reached out a tiny hand and Vader met it with his large gloved hands. Luke radiated pure happiness and love from his end of the bond, Luke babbled towards him. 

“He has not said his first words while I was away, has he?” Vader asked Lukes nanny, not turning to face her.

“No, my Lord.” Luke’s nanny kept herself in the corner of the room and looked down on the floor.

“You are dismissed for the evening,” He said as he turned to face her, she nodded quickly and ducked out of the room. Luke reached for Vader, he held out his hands. Vader turned back to his small son and placed his hand softly on Luke's head. “Hello, my son.” He said as soft as his vocoder would let him. Luke babbled softly, just then, Lekauf entered the room and Luke cheered. 

“Hi, Luke!” Lekauf smiled brightly at his son, Vader held his hands behind his back as he noticed what Lekauf was holding, it seemed to be a toy. Lekauf turned to Vader and slightly held it up in his hands. “I got Luke a present if that is alright, my Lord,” Lekauf said slightly awkwardly.

“You may give my son the gift you have gotten him,” Vader replied as he watched Lekauf kneel down and hold out what looked to be a plush cat. Luke reached for it curiously, wanting to inspect the object in Lekauf’s hand.

“This is a cat, Luke.” Lekauf smiled softly, “Can you say cat?” Lekauf looked somewhat hopeful as Luke held the toy in his head, turning it over as he observed it. Vader didn’t know when to expect Luke's first words, from the information he read, Luke was in the age gap where you can expect to hear their first words. It still could be a while though.

“Do not pressure him!” Vader announced, Lekauf jumped to his feet and bowed towards Vader.

“Forgive me, my Lord,” Lekauf said quietly.

“I do not want my son's first words to be  _ cat _ ,” Vader said as the sun began to slowly go down in the horizon. Unfortunately, the interrogations had taken up a lot of Vaders time and he would not be able to spend as much time with his son on this day as he would like. It was closing in on his son's bedtime and he had to inform several people of the information he had received from the interrogation. The least he could do was put his son to bed.

“Is there anything I can further assist in, my lord?” Lekauf asked as he watched Luke play with the toy he had gotten him. 

“Bring one of the bags of gifts in here, after that you may return to your post,” Vader instructed, Lekauf bowed and exited the room. He then felt a small nudge on his hand, he looked down and saw his son was handing him one of his toys. Vader took the toy in his hands, he had read that babies reach a development stage where they are learning to transport objects.

When he had gotten Luke he had absorbed as much information on infant development stages for Luke, he did not want to go into this blind. As much as he hated to admit it, he was clueless on what to do with babies. He was determined to not ask for help or advice and do this on his own, he would never admit needing help. After reading everything he could, he felt prepared, the only person's advice he would take was from Lukes's doctor. 

Luke picked up another toy off the ground and handed it to Vader, he also took that one. He used the force to gently lift out of his hand and placed them down on the ground. The sun slowly disappeared under the horizon, the sunlight glared and bounced off the glass of the buildings in Imperial City. He picked up Luke and placed him in his crib, luckily Miss Berik had already in his footie pajamas.

“Here is the bag, my Lord.” Vader turned around and saw Lekauf holding the bag out towards Vader. Vader grabbed the bag, he wanted to give one of the gifts to Luke before he went to sleep. He would give the rest to Luke tomorrow, but it was getting late and Lekauf had picked up a large amount of gifts for Luke. He shuffled through the bag and pulled out something that seemed soft, he pulled it out.

It was a plush Peko-peko bird, native to the planet of Naboo. It was light blue with a yellow beak, he considered stuffing it back into the bag. Anything to do with Naboo was too hard to look at, but he felt a sharp tug at his cape. He turned and saw his son desperately reaching for the bird. 

“Ah!” Luke announced as he kept reaching to grab the bird, Vader slowly gave it to Luke. Luke grabbed it and held onto it tightly, perhaps he should have something from the planet. His mother was from there after all.

Vader turned to Lekauf, “You may return to your post, Lieutenant.” 

“At once, my Lord.” Lekauf bowed and turned to leave the room, he saw his son standing in his crib facing Lekauf as he left. It looked like he was trying to grab something in the air, but Vader realized he was waving goodbye to Lekauf. Vader turned back to Luke and moved Luke to sit down in the crib.

“It is time for you to sleep, young one.” Luke just looked back up at him, Vader moved to turn on Luke's nightlight. He turned around and saw Luke standing up again holding onto the rails, he reached out his hand towards Vader.

“Da!” He yelled, Vader sighed and began to walk back towards Luke. He was considering using force suggestion to put his son to bed. As he walked towards Luke his son bent his legs up and down excitedly, still gripping the bars. “Da! Da!- Dada!” Luke yelled as he reached the crib. Vader froze and felt something jump in his chest.

“What did you say?” Vader asked then instantly realized his son wouldn’t understand the question, but it just spilled out. 

“Dada!” Luke repeated, Vader was speechless for a moment. Luke had just said his first words, he couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming surge of pride. Hearing the words coming from Luke meant more to him then he thought it would. Vader moved Luke again to sit in his crib and laid his hand on his head.

“Yes, that is right, little one,” Vader said softly, he pulled his hand away from Luke. “Goodnight, my son.” He turned around and left Lukes room, he was so distracted by the milestone Luke had just hit that when he walked into his conference room he didn’t know what all these bags in here were for. He remembered it was the gifts Lekauf had gotten, perhaps Lekauf had gone overboard with the gifts. He walked to the end of his conference table and pulled out an array of datapads and his comlink, he would try to finish the work he was given. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked this latest chapter! I really like writing for baby Luke cause it's just so cute lol I hope you liked it too.
> 
> Please let me know what you thought! I love hearing from you guys lol


	20. The Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vader takes his five-year-old son down to a Naval Supply Base and gets distracted by the idiocy of an Admiral
> 
> Meanwhile, Luke is fascinated by the woods on the planet they are on

“Please bring me down on the planet!” Vader’s son, Luke, whined, “Please father!” His son's hands were clapped together. Vader was in his personal chambers on the  _ Devastator _ getting everything ready for when he would descend on Gall. He finished looking through his datapads and set them down on his desk. He turned to address his son who was looking at him with a pleading look in his eyes.

“Luke, you would not be entertained, I have work to do,” Vader stated, Luke let out a defeated sigh.

“But the trees!! I wanna see woods!” Luke continued to beg, his son was enthralled with nature. Ever since he had seen holos of woods from some random planet full of lush greenery, he had wanted to see something like that. 

“They have trees in Imperial City.” Vader folded his arms over his chest, “A tree is a tree, once you have seen one you have seen them all, my son.”

“But it's not the same father! Trees come in all shapes and sizes!” Luke emphasized. 

“I do not think you would enjoy yourself, I have work to do,” Vader said again.

“I still wanna go! Please! I wanna be with you!” Luke begged, Vader looked down at his son, the mission he had to do was at the Regional Naval Supply Area, or, the NRSA. It would seem there may have been spies that infiltrated the base and set off Imperial bombs that were set towards a Star Destroyer. 

It wouldn’t be dangerous, the base was secured and searched for spies. It may have just been an accident through transport, but the Emperor decided it was worthy enough for Vader to investigate. A potential breach of security at such an important supply base was concerning, but if Luke stuck by his side the whole time he would be fine, in addition, he could show his son how Navy bases work and function. 

“I shall bring you down, but you shall stay by my side the entire time. You shall not wander off, or you will be grounded young one.” Luke’s eyes lit up and he jumped.

“Thank you!” Luke cheered.

“But you must change, you cannot go down to a Naval base in your pajamas. It is raining, dress appropriately” Vader instructed, Luke nodded quickly. He could feel his son's excitement radiate through the force brightly.

“Okay! Okay!” Luke said quickly, “I’ll be right back!” Luke turned around and ran out of the room towards his bedroom. Vader sighed, hoping his hyperactive son would calm down by the time they reached the base. Naval Bases were not the place to run around, they were serious with important business being conducted.

He waited for his son with his arms crossed over his chest, he heard rapid footsteps and saw his son run back into the room, “Okay- I am ready!” Luke stood up straight and smiled.

“You must behave, young one,” Vader said as he pointed at Luke, Luke nodded quickly.

“Okay, father!” Luke smiled brightly, 

Vader began moving towards the chamber’s exit, “Follow me, little one.” Vader left his chamber, his son followed behind him. His son was excited, though he was sure Luke would become disappointed. Luke would definitely grow bored, Vader would only be asking those in charge of the Naval Supply what had happened. The  _ Undauntable  _ was the Star Destroyer the set off explosives were heading towards. Fortunately, the ship was not damaged, only the transport. The Admiral of the  _ Undauntable  _ would be joining him on Gall to investigate what happened with him.

They reached the hangar, his ship had already been prepared for him. He heard his son gasp softly at the planet that was visible from the hangar, it floated peacefully below the  _ Devastator  _ with twinkling the void around the lush planet. Vader walked up the ramp and into the cockpit with Luke trailing behind him.

“Where are we going?” Luke asked excitedly as he strapped into the co-pilot’s seat.

“We are going to the Naval Supply Base,” Vader informed his son as the shuttle lifted and slowly moved towards the planet. Luke sank in his seat slightly and a funny look on his face.

“Trees?” Luke asked hopefully.

“Perhaps I can bring you to the edge of the forest, but first, I must conduct my work, my son.” They began to break into the planet's atmosphere, the planet's temperate forest appeared in the viewport. Luke huffed softly to himself. 

“Okay!” Luke smiled, Luke sat up slightly in his seats the closer they got to look at the forest below. They neared the landing pad outside of the Supply Base, which was surrounded by the forest. Raindrops began to fall on the viewport, the sky was grey and cloudy. The shuttle landed gently, Vader stood from the pilot's seat and turned off the engine. Luke jumped from his seat and peered out the viewport at the woods. “Wooow,” Luke whispered.

“You are easily amazed, young one,” Vader said, Luke shrugged and followed Vader out of the cockpit and down the ramp. The rain kept a consistent downpour, Vader headed towards the large docking bay. Luke had grabbed the end of his cape and propped it over his head for protection from the rain. Hundreds of men in brown jumpsuits swarmed the docking bay, loading ships with large boxes full of ammunition to meal packs. 

They finally reached the docking bay, Luke pulled his cape off his head once they were fully protected from the rain. Vader saw two men in uniform bickering between each other, perhaps he shouldn’t have brought Luke. He would not want Luke to witness what he does to men who waste his time. The workers in the docking bay stumbled over boxes as they stared at Vader in confusion and fear, then the men in uniform noticed Vader. They faced Vader with their hands held in a salute. One of them was the Admiral of the  _ Undauntable _ , Admiral Motti.

“Who is in charge of this Naval Supply Base?” Vader asked, one of the men hesitantly stepped forward.

“I-I am, my Lord.” The officer trembled slightly, the fear emanating from the man. Vader soaked in not only the Officers fear, but of all the men that passed him. 

“I assumed members of higher rank had some level of competence, I suppose I was mistaken.” Vader folded his arms over his chest. The officer in front of him flinched at the insult and attempted to keep a professional face. Admiral Motti nodded his head strongly.

“I agree with you Lord Vader, this is just deplorable. I thought facil-” Admiral Motti was interrupted by a small voice.

“What does comp- comp-te-mence mean?” Vader turned and saw his son who stood to his right and was looking up at his father curiously. He felt slight amusement that his son had interrupted an Admiral, but was shocked his son was even listening to the conversation. He thought his son would be too fascinated by the surroundings. He could feel the two men being thoroughly shocked at the boy, though from Admiral Motti, he grew rather impatient.

“This is a military base, Officer Renda!” Motti turned to the officer Vader had just spoken to, “Why are children running about asking questions! No wonder there was tampering in the explosives!” Motti pointed at the officer, his voice was raised. Vader felt his son flinch at the man's tone and cling to Vader's cape like a lifeline, Vader's fists squeezed tightly.

“This boy is my son, Admiral. I would advise you to control yourself before you regret it.” Vader growled, Motti raised his eyebrows and looked down at Luke. Luke was practically hidden by his cape, but kept peaking his eye out.

“Oh, well- my apologies, Lord Vader,” Motti smiled, “It was just a simple misunderstanding.” Vader did his best to keep his cool, though it was incredibly difficult. His son was way too innocent to witness his father kill this man, even if Motti did deserve to die. He did not like the Admiral, but Tarkin found him useful in Project Stardust. 

“Your importance to Grand Moff Tarkin is your savior, Admiral,” Vader said slowly, Motti kept a straight face but understood Vader's meaning. Silence passed, Vader then turned to Luke, “Competence is the ability to do something, even at a basic level - it is something these men do not have.” Luke giggled into his hands, the men stiffened in front of him.

“S-Shall I begin interrogations, my lord?” Officer Renda asked nervously, Vader held his hands behind his back.

“Yes, everyone in this docking bay is a suspect for a Rebel spy, even you,” Officer Renda nodded quickly, Admiral Motti folded his arms over his chest.

“Well, they better find out who had done this. My ship could have blown up!” Motti emphasized, Vader once again reeled in his anger. Something Sith were not really encouraged to do.

“Thank you for telling us something we were already aware of, Admiral.” Motti’s eyes flew open, he could feel the man's anger rise. Vader ignored the insolent Admiral and turned to Officer Renda, “Commence with the interrogations now, Officer.”

“Right away, my Lord.” Officer Renda’s voice wavered, the man obviously knew he was in trouble for what happened. He was a coward, Vader felt his fear consistently raise with each passing second. Dealing with these men turned out to be more frustrating then he could have imagined and he was using as much restraint as he could. Admiral Motti’s face scrunched tightly and huffed sharply.

“I hope you intend on punishing this poor excuse of an officer, Lord Vader. At least the removal of his rank!” Motti’s hands were balled into tight fists, this man was greatly wearing on the little patience the Sith Lord had. 

“I suggest that you do not tell me how to do my job, Admiral. My loyalties for Tarkin only run so deep, if you continue to test my patience, you shall be faced with the consequences.” Vader said slowly, Motti narrowed his eyes.

“Don’t try and frighten me with your sorcerer’s ways, Lord Vader. I have heard the rumors about you, they don’t scare me.” Motti folded his arms over his chest with a smug look on his face. Vader almost snapped, the only thing holding him back was Luke, not Tarkin.  _ Luke is here _ repeated rapidly in his head. The dark side of the force whispered, begging Vader to release his anger on the man. 

“Perhaps both of you shall be stripped of your ranks!” Vader pointed hard at the man, the idea of having his rank stripped seemed to frighten him slightly. Perhaps the Admiral has never seen a display of the force, many in the galaxy have not and believe the force to be a myth. He would show the Admiral the force was real, the Admiral would feel the force wrap around his throat. 

Motti remained silent, though his anger had not lessened. Perhaps he learned to bite his tongue around Vader, for his sake, he should. He turned back to face Officer Renda, “Bring me to the Security Room, I would like to see footage of the docking bay when the explosives were tampered myself.” Officer Renda nodded quickly.

“I will show you to the Security Room, my Lord.” Officer Renda turned around and began to walk down the Docking Bay towards the offices in the back. As Vader was about to follow the man, he moved his hand to gently nudge Luke forward. He felt nothing, Luke had just been right beside him, clinging to his cape. Vader turned and saw his son was nowhere to be found, he looked around the docking bay. No Luke, Vader quickly opened up through the force, attempting to connect with Luke and locate him. His usually bright presence was dim, and slowly fading.

A mixture of emotions flooded, flowing strongly through his veins. Fear and anger overwhelmed his senses, he felt Admiral Motti’s curiosity grow. The very existence of the man infuriated him, he lifted the Admiral in the air. He could feel the man struggle through the force, his fear now rising. He threw the admiral hard against the docking bay wall, the slam echoed through the large docking bay. He opened up to the force and stormed out of the docking bay, hoping the dark side with whisper hints to where his son was. 

* * *

Luke sat behind a wet log eating a fruit he had found growing from a bush as he looked out over the scenery of the woods. The rain tapped on leaves as they fell to the ground, the air was cold, a soft wind blew through his hair. Luke was beginning to regret wandering away from his father to look at the woods, but one of the men that kept yelling was freaking Luke out. His father called him an Admiral, but Luke wasn’t necessarily paying attention to the conversation. 

He wanted to get away and saw the woods when him and his father walked into the large docking bay. All he really wanted to see was the forest, his teacher showed holos in class and was fascinated ever since. It truly was different then any of the parks at Imperial City, it was quiet but buzzed with life. It was peaceful and this fruit he was eating was delicious, but he was starting to get cold. 

Luke stood up and turned around and began to head back, but didn’t see the docking bay. He felt turned around, he couldn’t tell which direction to go. “Father!” He yelled out, hoping maybe his father could hear him. Maybe he walked in too far in the woods, his heart began to race. “Fath-” Luke began to yell out again but stopped as he heard loud shuffling in the bushes near him. He gasped and stared at the bush terrified. A tense silence passed until the bush shuffled and what sounded like tree branches falling.

Luke turned and booked it in a random direction, running fast. Twigs and leaves crushed under his rapid footfalls, his jacket snagged on a branch. His jacket ripped off of him but he kept going until he couldn’t run anymore. He stopped and hid behind a tree, he breathed heavily and his heart pumped quickly. Now more than ever did he wish his father was here, he felt tears rush down his cheeks. He slid down the trunk of the tree and hugged his knees close to his chest.

* * *

Vader tried multiple times to connect with his son through the force, but it was almost as if Luke’s presence was just out of reach and slipped through his fingers. Luke’s presence was there but dim and simmered dully through the force, which was unusual. His son's force presence was the brightest and most pure essence he had ever felt, it was like a supernova. Vader never panicked, it was not a feeling he was used to feeling, something brewed inside of him. It was strong and chugged through him like a train. 

He left the large docking bay and saw his shuttle up ahead, he scanned the surroundings. The rain fell, Vader began to wonder if his son was wet and cold. He needed to find him, he could not fail his son as he had failed his wife, his mother. No, he pushed them away, he wouldn’t even consider that a possibility, because he would save his son. He looked over to the woods, it's all he wanted to see, it was his first lead. 

He ignited his lightsaber, the rain steamed off the red blade, it reflected in the small puddles on the dark pavement that led to the edge of the woods. He sliced through the thick brush, trees cracked loudly as they slowly fell over, he stormed through the forest and cleared a path as he went. The ground below him squished softly, the forest floor was soft and damp.

He continued to stretch out with the force for his son, continually attempting to grasp his force presence but it always slipped away. If someone had harmed him, if someone touched a hair on his head…

Perhaps there were no words to possibly explain or put to justice what he would do, several scenarios ran through his head of what he would like to do if someone had hurt him. The rage and anger he had been holding back charged him as if he was a depleted battery, the force buzzed around him. He felt electricity coarse through his veins, nothing would stop him. He charged through the forest as if he was a force of nature himself, and perhaps he was.

What he saw made him stop dead in his tracks, he saw his son's jacket ripped on a tree branch. He grabbed it gently and held it in his hand, his son was out there somewhere, scared and cold. He squeezed the jacket tightly and hurried forward. Still cutting through any trees and logs that blocked his way, paving a new path. The force bent to his will and led the way for him, it had brought him to Lukes's jacket. 

He wouldn’t give up, he would never give up. He was close, the force told him so. It whispered excitedly once he got to a small opening. He turned off his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt, he looked around the small opening. At first, he saw nothing, perhaps he misinterpreted what the force told him. That he would have to further explore the forest, but he heard small whimpering towards a large tree.

He quickly walked towards the tree and saw behind the trunk his son curled into himself, crying softly into his knees. Luke slowly turned his head up, his eyes lit up. His son was shaking slightly, either to fear or the cold or perhaps both.

“Father!” Luke said in a shaky voice, he jumped up and huddled close to his father. “You found me!” 

“I will always find you, my son,” Vader said as he placed his hand on Luke's head, brushing Lukes's wet hair off his forehead. Having his son finally with him released the build-up of fear he held like a tight ball in his chest. Luke was wet and probably cold, he grabbed his cape and pulled it off of him. 

“Why’d you p-pull off your c-cape?” Luke asked as he shivered.

“I am going to wrap it around you, my son, so you can be somewhat warm.” He wrapped the cape around Luke's shoulders and picked him up. Luke shivered slightly and squirmed. Vader concentrated through the force to pull his body heat out to create something like a bubble around them to heat Luke up. 

Luke audible gasped, “W-Wow, you’re warm father.” A term not many used to describe the Sith lord, his presence usually washed over a room and the temperature dropped. If people shivered in his presence, he wondered if it was out of fear or the sudden chill he brought. The air would be frigid, he sucked the warmth out of everything. But Luke brought out the warmth within him.

While keeping concentrated on the force to keep the warmth around Luke, he began heading back to the Docking Bay. Millions of things ran through his mind, he didn’t know whether he should start lecturing to Luke to never do that again or just be grateful he had him back.

“You should not have run off into the woods, young one.” He began, he had at least make that clear. “You should have not left my side.” He didn’t know how Luke would respond, but he didn’t expect Luke to begin to ramble.

“I am sorry for running off, I just wanted to see the woods and I saw them when we were walking in and the admiral was scaring me so I decided to go out here because it was quiet. I didn’t mean to get lost, I heard a loud noise and got scared and ran.” Luke paused to think, “Oh and I ate a fruit, it was really good!” 

“You ate a random fruit growing in the forest!?” Vader paused and looked at his son, Luke nodded.

“Uh-huh, it was from a bush.” Luke smiled, “Up there.” Luke half turned and pointed towards the edge of the woods by the docking bay. They were close, Vader walked towards the direction Luke pointed to. Finally, they were both out of the woods. Vader scanned the flora that lined the concrete of the docking bay and saw a bush with small purple fruits. Vader recognized them, they were Maja fruit. 

He felt instant relief, they weren’t poisonous. Maja fruit though did, however, dull one's use of the force. Almost like force binders, one who eats the fruit loses their strength in the force. That was why Luke’s presence was dim, his presence would slowly come back in time. Vader let out a weary breath, his child should not be eating random fruit found in the woods but he would lecture him about that later. He walked back out to the docking bay towards Officer Renda, who stood just outside of the warehouse. 

Officer Renda snapped up when he saw Vader walking towards him, “Lord Vader, here is a data chip of the docking bay’s security footage of the night of the explosion.” Renda held out a data chip. With Vader’s free hand he grabbed it, looked at it then at officer Renda.

“I will have someone examine the footage on the  _ Devastator _ , they shall report any findings. Until then, continue with the investigations.” Officer Renda did his best to not stare at the boy Vader was holding, Renda bowed.

“At once, my Lord.” Renda paused and looked back at the docking bay and back to Vader. “Admiral Mo-”

“I am aware of Admiral Motti’s condition, take care of it.” Renda blinked quickly in shock then nodded.

“Yes, my Lord.” He said quietly, he bowed once again and hurried back into the docking bay. Vader turned and headed back towards the shuttle.

“Do you think there are monsters in the woods?” Luke asked as he adjusted the cape wrapped around him, “I heard the bushes move.” He said in a whisper, like it was a secret between Vader and him. 

They reached the shuttle and waited for the exit ramp to lower. “Monsters are not real, little one,” Vader informed his son as he carried him up the ramp into the shuttle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! This story was requested by one of the readers on Fanfic.net, if you guys have prompts you'd like me to write just let me know!
> 
> Anyways, again, thank you so much for reading! I hope you liked it. I used a lot of creative liberties in this chapter so I hope it worked well lol. The next chapter is another baby Luke, Please let me know what you thought! I love to hear from you!


	21. The Sleepover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ten-year-old Luke convinces his father to let him have a sleepover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long for an update! I struggled with this chapter but I really hope you like it!

“Sign up for the bake-sale after school! All proceeds go back to the Academy!” A girl announced in the lunchroom as she held out a datapad. Aaron and Luke sat at their tables, they were discussing their excitement for the Octave Stairway holo show all night showing on holovid. Aaron stopped to listen to the girl's announcement and sighed.

“Aww man, that sounds like fun.” Aaron kicked his feet back and forth in his chair, looking off at the bake-sale sign. Luke glanced at the bake-sale sign and backed to Aaron.

“Yeah- but I don’t wanna miss the marathon tonight.” Luke had been to a bake-sale before, they were a lot of fun but it wasn’t worth missing a marathon. Aaron’s attention snapped back and smiled.

“Oh, Yeah- me neither,” Aaron paused and his eyes lit up, “We should have a sleepover!” Luke almost jumped in his seat. Luke, although still struggled with homesickness, still thought sleepovers were fun. Tonight would be a perfect night as well, Luke couldn’t stop smiling.

“Yes! That would be awesome!” Luke exclaimed, Aaron pulled his backpack close to him and began to rummage through his bag.

“Alright, I’ll ask my parents if-” Aaron paused and looked slightly disappointed, “I just remembered- my apartment is gonna have reconstruction tomorrow…” Aaron sighed, “I probably won’t be allowed to have friends over.”

“Oh- well that's fine! You could probably stay over at my house tonight.” Luke smiled, Aaron’s eyes flew open. He hadn’t been over to Luke's home very often, when they would hang out after school it would be at Aarons. Aaron had only met his father a few times and while with each encounter he grew braver, he still was slightly frightened of him. 

“S-Sleep over? At your house?” Aaron asked nervously, “Will your- will your father be there?” Aaron said quietly, Luke looked at him funny.

“Uh yeah- he lives there.” Luke laughed, “Uhm- you don’t have to be nervous. He will probably just be working or something.” Luke reassured, Aaron’s worrisome look lessened and nodded slowly. 

“Well, having a sleepover tonight would be cool,” Aaron said softly, Luke smiled.

“That's the spirit! I’ll ask if you can sleepover when I get home then com you.” Luke honestly felt ecstatic, he had never had a sleepover before at his home. Luke still struggled slightly with homesickness, but sleepovers were fun, and having it at his home was the best of both worlds. Luke didn’t know what his father would say but he didn’t see why he would say no. 

The bell rang through the lunchroom, an audible groan was heard across the room as kids began to stand and collect their things. Luke was smiling excitedly while Aaron looked like a good mixture of emotions. Luke sat up and swung his backpack over his shoulders, Aaron did the same and they both walked out of the lunchroom towards their next class.

* * *

When the school had finally let out, Luke jumped out of his seat in his class towards the landing pads. He had excitedly told Lekauf about his plans for the evening, though Lekauf looked somewhat skeptical. It cast small shadows of doubts that maybe his father wouldn’t really allow the sleepover. It made Luke wonder why he would have a problem with it, it's not like Aaron and he would be loud. They would just stay in his room the whole night.

When they finally arrived at the hangar, Luke jumped out and threw his backpack over his shoulder and ran to the lift. Luke’s stomach churned anxiously as the lift ascended to his floor, hoping his father wouldn’t mind a sleepover. Luke felt his father's force presence brush up against his, his father was home.  The lift doors swooshed open, he darted down the hall and quickly threw his backpack in his bedroom then ran to the conference room. His father stood at the end with a load of datapads stacked upon each other, the idea of doing that much work made Luke cringe internally. 

“Hi father!” Luke smiled and sat at one of the conference room chairs.

“Hello, my son. How was your day?” His father asked as he set down one of the datapads he was working on.

“It was good- same as usual.” Luke spun side to side in his chair, “So uhm- I was wondering something.” Luke asked, he was mixed with emotions, but mostly was worried his father would shoot him down. 

“What is it, young one?” His father picked up his datapad and continued his work. Luke took in a deep breath.

  
“Well- I was wondering if maybe Aaron could...sleepover?” Luke asked slowly, his father was silent for a moment. Luke began to wonder if he had heard him, he was about to repeat himself when his father finally replied.

“A sleepover?” His father asked, still looking down at the datapad, “Here?” 

“Uh- yeah?” Luke said quietly, “If that's okay.” 

“Luke I have a great deal of work I must finish,” His father stated, “I do not want your friend over while I am working.” Luke’s mouth dropped and let out a sound of disbelief. 

“Please! We will be quiet! I promise!” Luke begged, “It will be like he was never here!” His father set down the datapad and turned to address Luke, he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Listen to me, young one. I am not sure it would be a good idea considering the large amount of work I have.” His father said sternly, Luke’s mood was dropping rapidly. His father's stubbornness along with disappointing his friend burdened him, he clapped his hands together.

“Please, just for one night! We will be quiet!” Luke begged once again, hoping his father would change his mind. “I swear! We won’t leave my room!” His father stood there silently.

“If you and your friend are making too much noise, he will have to leave.” Lukes’s eyes lit up, he was about 50/50 if the begging would work. But it goes to show if you don’t have enough determination you won’t get anywhere. Luke jumped from his seat and out of a surge of gratefulness ran up and hugged his dad.

“Thank you!” He pulled back, “I am going to let Aaron know!” He turned to head towards the conference room door and left. He ran into his room and quickly pulled out his com. 

“Hello?” Aaron’s voice came through the com.

“Aaron you can come over!” Luke blurted, Aaron took a minute to respond. 

“Uh- okay!” Aaron said nervously.

“Aaron, you have nothing to be nervous about!” Luke reassured it was silent over the com for a moment.

“I-I know, I’ll be there soon and I will bring both of my sleeping bags,” Aaron replied.

“Okay! See you soon!” Luke smiled.

“Bye Luke.” The com was cut, Luke was beginning to wonder what he should start to prepare for a sleepover. Snacks? Drinks? Luke ran his hand through his hair, realizing he had never thrown a sleepover or something close to a party. He nervously wondered if he would be a decent host, he didn’t want the sleepover to be lame. He ran over to his panel by his door and began ordering loads of snacks and drinks to be delivered to his room.

He quickly changed out of his school uniform into his pajamas and ran into his closet. He shuffled through a box filled with some of his old toys and games and pulled out a deck of cards. They could find a game to play with this, he walked back into his room and placed it on his desk.

He went to go check to see if the snacks were on the way. He opened his bedroom door and looked down the hall, two droids were coming down carrying trays. He stepped out into the hall to make room for the droids, the conference room door swooshed open and his father stepped out and saw the droids carrying in the snacks.

“What is this?” His father asked, “You cannot have all of that.” His father said, Luke turned and faced his dad. 

“But I wanna be a good host!” Luke emphasized, “Where is your party spirit?!” His father stepped in front of him towards one of the droids carrying a tray.

“Take this back to the kitchens.” He ordered the droid, Luke’s mouth dropped open when his father turned to face him again. “You can have one of the trays, two is unacceptable.” His father said as he placed his hands behind his back.

“Okay,  _ fine _ . Just one.” Luke said slightly disappointed and folded his arms over his chest with a small huff. 

“I am going down to the hangar to speak with Lekauf, com me if you need me.” His father walked down the hall and entered the lift. Luke turned back into his room and continued to clean his room. Luke then realized how messy his room really was so he asked help from a droid to organize his things. An hour or so passed when he finally finished and thought the room was good enough.

Now, his party was complete with snacks, games, and drinks. But now Luke was slightly worn out from his assembly of a small party with his friend. He fell flat on his back and waited until Aaron would com him to tell him he was on his way.

* * *

“Report any updates on the skirmish outside of Taris, send my confirmation to Senator Brimen on her proposal, and set up a meeting with Grand Moff Randd in my conference room tomorrow at 0500.” Vader told Lekauf, Lekauf frantically entered all this information into his datapad as he walked behind the Sith Lord. 

“Yes, my Lord.” Lekauf responded, they reached the door of Lekauf’s office that exited into the hangar. Vader walked out of the office into the hangar, he really did have a mountain of work to finish. Vader had too much on his mind and swore that if Luke and his friend made too much noise at night Luke’s friend would have to leave. That was one of the reasons he said yes along with the need to get back to work. He couldn’t carry on the discussion with Luke, he was sure he would have kept begging all night. 

He didn’t want someone else to stay in his home, even if it was just Luke’s friend. He was the Lord of the Sith, now he was going to have his child and his child's friend have a sleepover in his home? Vader sighed internally, wondering when Lukes begging would no longer work on him. As he was walking towards his lift to go back to his level he saw a speeder slowly lower into the hangar. 

Vader watched as the speeder landed, he folded his arms over his chest. Luke should be here to bring his friend up, he opened to the force and searched for his son. To his surprise, Luke was asleep, perhaps preparing for his friend's arrival really took it out of him. Luke’s friend was taking a while to get out of the speeder, but eventually, the doors opened. 

Luke’s friend walked out, looking to the ground with his bag wrapped over his shoulder. The pilot's side door popped open as well, a woman walked out. She looked at Vader nervously, her fear spiked at the sight of him. She walked over to the boy and hugged him and whispered something in his ear. Luke’s friend nervously departed from the woman and walked up to Vader but kept somewhat of a distance, his fear spiked being close to the Sith Lord.

“W-Where is Luke, s-sir?” The boy asked softly.

“It would seem that he has fallen asleep,” Vader said as the speeder began to slowly leave the hangar. 

“Oh,” Is all the boy said, Vader was quickly losing interest in this conversation. He would bring Luke’s friend to his son and continue with his work.

“Follow me,” Vader said and continued down the hangar towards the lift doors, the boy scampered behind him. They both were in the lift, the boy huddled close to the wall and looked down towards the floor. They ascended up to the level in silence, the boy’s fear was still very high in his presence. 

Finally, the lift doors opened and Vader stormed ahead and opened Luke’s bedroom door and saw him sleeping on his bed. “Luke!” Vader called out, Luke jumped slightly and pushed himself up to sit on his bed. Luke rubbed his eyes and looked at Vader confused.

“What is it?” Luke whined.

“Your friend is here, he was dropped off while you were asleep.” Luke shot up in his bed and stood. “He is out in the hall.” Vader turned and left the room to enter the conference room to continue with his work. He was already losing his patience for this sleepover.

* * *

Luke ran out to his door frame and looked down the hall, Aaron looked incredibly tense. “Aaron!” Luke gasped, “I am so sorry!” Aaron shuffled into Luke's room and dropped his bags by the door. 

“It's okay.” Aaron breathed, he walked further into Luke’s room and smiled, “Wow, snacks, games, you really went all out.” Luke’s doors swooshed closed and he walked over towards the tray of food and snacks and sat down on the floor in front of it.

“Yeah, well I wanted to be a good host.” Luke leaned forward and grabbed some food from the tray.

“You fell asleep!” Aaron laughed and sat next to Luke and began to eat some of the snacks as well. Luke tensed at Aarons very valid point but quickly changed the subject by turning on the holovid. The Octave Stairway marathon was on. Finally, his hard party planning was worth it and now he was having his first sleepover at his house. 

Luke was still somewhat tired from his nap and yawned, Aaron popped a couple of candies in his mouth and looked at Luke. “Hey, if you're tired, why don’t we have some caf so we can stay up?” Luke pursed his lips, Luke wasn’t really allowed to have caf. He had tried to have sips from Lekauf, he drank caf  _ all _ the time. But his father had forbidden him from having caf, but maybe he could sneak some. Then, he and Aaron could stay up late watching the Octave Stairway. 

Luke stood up and walked over to the control panel by his door, he looked through the selection and eventually found caf. He turned around, “Okay, I got us each one.” Luke smiled but his attention quickly turned back to the holovid. Only a few minutes passed when his door swooshed open with a droid holding a tray, on top were two cafs. Luke grabbed them and his hands immediately warmed up. 

“Thank you,” Luke said to the droid, Aaron snickered to himself as the droid turned to leave. Luke turned to face Aaron and looked at him funny, “Why are you laughing?” 

“You thanked a droid.” Aaron smiled and grabbed his caf, “You're like the only person I know that does that.” Aaron took a sip of his caf.

“Well, I feel rude if I don’t thank them,” Luke said as he eyed the caf suspiciously, he slowly lifted it and took a sip. He jumped a little at the heat but didn’t hate it, his room door swooshed close and sat next to Aaron. They continued to watch the marathon, snacking on the food he brought and drinking the caf he had gotten.

His father always compared caf to spice, but didn’t feel an addictive need to drink it. He expected it to hold onto him with one sip, feeling a strong urge to drink it. At least, that's what his father's warnings made him think would happen. He continued to drink it until it was gone.

A new episode began and Aaron sighed, “I really thought Brin was going to reach her family in this episode.” Luke nodded in agreement. The Octave Stairway was about a girl named Brin who lost her family and was taking the stairway to find them. “It left on such a good cliffhanger too!” 

“I know!” Luke laughed, they chatted through the night while they watched the marathon, Luke popped open his deck of cards and attempted to remember the rules of sabacc that Lekauf taught him in secret.

His attempt on remembering the rules of sabacc failed, Aaron suggested they play a different game called shul. They switched between paying attention to the marathon and the card game. They continued to snack on the food and drink some of the juice boxes he had brought to his room. Eventually, they settled on just playing the game, they both were deeply invested and were oblivious to the passage of time. Luke looked up, almost as if he was broken from a trance. He saw almost all the snacks were gone and he was jittering slightly. 

Luke didn’t feel tired at all either so the caf worked, he looked over at his chrono on his desk by habit and saw it was already 0400. Luke's mouth dropped open, he had never ever stayed up this late before. “Woah- its already 0400!” Luke whispered.

Aaron looked between Luke and the chrono, “Wow, time passes fast when you're having fun I guess.” Aaron smiled. Luke was happy they both were having fun but knew they had to go to sleep or his father would be  _ really _ mad for staying up this late. Luke ran over to his light switch and turned it off. 

“We have to get to bed!” Luke said in a frantic whisper, Aaron nodded and handed Luke the sleeping bag he brought him. They both assembled their sleeping bags in the dark, almost stumbling over each other. Aaron got in his sleeping bag, Luke tiptoed over towards his bed and slowly grabbed his ducky blanket and wrapped it over his shoulders. He slipped into his sleeping bag and came to the realization that the floor was significantly more uncomfortable than his bed. But this was in the spirit of sleepovers so he decided he would just bear the back pain.

He shut his eyes tightly, trying to fall asleep. He still felt slightly jittery and not tired at all. He didn’t expect the caf to affect him like this. He silently cursed caf under his breath, his father was right. He waited impatiently, he would ask his father to just use the force to put him to sleep but that would mean admitting to staying up all night. Not that he could lie and say he was trying to sleep, his father could tell when he lied. 

Minutes passed, they both tossed and turned in their sleeping bag. Luke rolled on his back and stared at his bedroom ceiling, he let out a weary sigh. “Can’t fall asleep?” Aaron whispered, Luke shook his head.

“No.” Luke sighed, he sat up, “The caf worked too good.” Aaron sat up as well and nodded.

“Yeah, I am not tired at all.” Aaron crisscrossed his legs, “Wanna play another card game? Why not? Neither of us can sleep,” Luke looked at the scattered cards on the floor of his room. Luke nodded, but wanted to grab something from the kitchens first. His father disabled service to Luke's room between certain times so he wouldn’t order things past his bedtime. 

“I’ll be right back, I am going to grab a drink from the kitchens.” Luke slipped out of his sleeping bag and crept to his bedroom door. The door swooshed opened quietly, he slowly made his way down the hallway towards the kitchens. He passed the large sitting area, a large viewport lined the walls giving a view of the city. The glow of the city illuminated the room with a slightly blue glow, Luke kept going till he reached the kitchens.

The droids were powered down, he moved towards the icebox and pulled out another juice box. He quietly left the kitchens and rushed down the hall trying to get back to his room as fast as possible. Maybe if he had looked down the hall he and took the time to notice his surroundings, he would have seen the lights were on, along with the man right in front of him that he bumped into. Luke stumbled back and heard a splash, his hand was wet. He looked down at the floor and his juice box and saw it burst on the impact of the man right in front of him. 

Luke's eyes widened, the man turned around slowly and faced Luke. “G-Grand Moff Randd?” Luke asked awkwardly. Luke then noticed Lekauf standing next to Randd looking at Luke in shock. Randd looked at his sleeve which was soaked in Lukes juice box and thinned his lips and let a huff, Lekauf crossed his arms over his chest.

“What are you doing up?!” Lekauf asked in a frantic whisper, he turned to Randd. “I apologize sir.”

“I just hope Lord Vader won’t mind my ruined uniform.” Randd sighed then the hall was silenced by his father's respirator. 

“Why is there a crowd in my hallway?” His father asked, then spotted Luke behind Lekauf and Randd. “What are you doing up, Luke?!” He practically pushed the two out of the way.

“I-I uh-” Luke stumbled, “I couldn’t fall asleep,” Luke mumbled, his father looked down at the spilled drink then the broken juice box in Lukes's hand. 

“Was it because of the large amount of snacks? Did you sneak more food or beverages in your room after I said one tray was enough?” Luke flushed slightly under the scrutiny of his father in front of two other adults. Luke shrunk into himself and looked down at the floor.

“N-No.” Luke said quietly.

“That is a lie.” His father folded his arms over his chest, “Any attempt to lie to me is pointless.” Luke sighed and braced himself.

“I- I snuck some- some caf.” His father stood in front of him silently, desperate to know what he was thinking, Luke poked at his father's shields. His father opened their bond, anger poured out of him, and filled their bond. 

“Caf?” His father asked, Luke nodded slowly. “A drink I have specifically forbidden you from consuming?” Luke nodded again, wishing more than anything to just run off to his room. “We will finish this discussion in the morning, but you must know that you are grounded.” His father pointed at Luke.

Luke knew that was coming, but he didn’t expect a giant wave of fatigue to wash over him. “W-wha-” He mumbled and slightly tripped under himself trying to keep balance, then knew his father was using the force, next thing he knew he fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

Vader caught Luke as he fell asleep and held him, he heard a small gasp as he turned and faced Grand Moff Randd and Lekauf. “Go to my conference room and wait for me there, Randd. I apologize for my son ruining your uniform, but I am sure you will find some way to cope.” He walked past them and towards Luke's room. He opened the door and saw Luke's friend dividing cards.

  
“Geez Luke, what took you so lo-” Luke's friend looked up and saw Vader carrying Luke, “Uh! Uh!! I am sor!-” Vader used the force to put Luke's friend asleep as well, he fell back onto his sleeping bag. Vader walked through Lukes's disaster of a room, it was incredibly dirty. He placed Luke on his bed, lifted his hand, and Luke's blanket flew to it. He placed it on Luke and left his room. His son would definitely not have a sleepover  _ again _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked this chapter update!!! It took me a while to finish lol, anyways, thank you so so much for reading! Please let me know what you thought! Love reading the comments!


	22. A Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vader is slightly worried when his three-year-old has nightmares

Vader flew his ship in the direction of his home from the Imperial Security Bureau, it was late evening, the sunset beyond the horizon blocked by several skyscrapers. He had just finished interrogating the Senator of Ryloth. Senator Taa has been reminded to get control of his citizens, the planet's disturbing unrest with Imperial Rule has not sat well with the Emperor. If not addressed soon, a possible insurgency could rise, which was unacceptable. 

Why they did not just kill the Senator to make an example out of him to Ryloth was beyond him, perhaps the Emperor found him more useful alive. The Senator was not particularly impressive, Vader was not sure how the man gained a title of authority and was sure he would fail his attempt to rest his citizens. It was only a matter of time before he would execute him, he knew then the citizens of Ryloth truly would understand who was in power. 

He came upon his hanger and slowly moved his shuttle to land, he stood from the pilot's seat and shut off the engine. He exited the cockpit and walked down the exit ramp, Lekauf stood at the foot of the ramp holding a datapad. Lekauf bowed as Vader reached him and continued to walk forward through the hangar. Lekauf chased after him and walked beside him.

“Inform me on any updates, Lekauf,” Vader instructed as they walked towards the lift, Lekauf quickly looked down at his datapad then back up at Vader as they entered the lift.

“There have been several reports of small insurgencies in Ryloth around Imperial bases, Senator Anren’s Education Fund Act is being deliberated in the Senate, along with General Voss on stand by near the Ryloth system,” Lekauf informed as they ascended in the lift.

“Order General Voss to set a blockade around Ryloth,” Vader ordered, even just having spoken with the Senator he knew the insurgencies would have to be dealt with force. The lift doors opened and Vader walked down the hall.

“Yes, my Lord,” Lekauf said as he followed behind him, Vader walked into his conference room and saw his son sitting in one of the conference room chairs drinking out of a sippy cup. Miss Berik stood up straight and bowed at Vader.

“Hello, my Lord.” She said softly, Luke saw Vader and his eyes lit up and kicked his legs.

“Father!” Luke reached for Vader and dropped his drink, Vader held it with the force and looked to Miss Berik.

“You are dismissed,” She nodded and said goodbye to Luke, she walked up to Vader and swallowed hard.

“Uhm- I just thought I should let you know Luke had woken up to a pretty bad nightmare, I just thought I should let you know in case he has any trouble falling asleep tonight.” She said in a shaky voice, Vader was shocked that she walked up and spoke to him in general. She avoided saying anything more than she needed to, which is one of the aspects as to why he had hired her. This must have been important, important enough to speak with him.

Vader didn’t say anything, he just walked up to Luke and Berik walked out. “You are dismissed as well, Lekauf.” Lekauf bowed and left the room, Vader turned to address his son. “Hello my son, how are you doing?” Vader was slightly alarmed at hearing he had a nightmare.

Of course children had nightmares, he had read so from parenting information data chips. But only three years ago did he have nightmares that plagued him and warned him of his wife's demise. While she had tried to soothe him by reminding him dreams were metaphorical, Vader  _ never _ had a metaphorical dream. His dreams were always prophetic, showing him or warning him of the future. They always came true and Vader only hoped this curse was not genetic. Vader thought that particular trait was a curse, his son didn't deserve that.

“Good!” Luke slid out of his chair, “I wanna show you something!” Luke ran out of the conference room towards his room. Vader sighed and walked out of the conference room and followed his son. He looked into his son's room and saw it was rather messy, toys and a small stack of papers lay on the floor. Paper was a rare commodity, but Vader had plenty for his son to draw with.

Luke picked up a piece of paper from the desk in his room and held it up for Vader to see, it had a tall stick person with a smaller stick person. “It is you and me, see?” Luke pointed to each figure. Vader held it, “For you.” Luke smiled. Though it was simple, very obvious that a kid had drawn this, it was perfect.

“Thank you, my son.” Vader would put this in his hyperbaric chamber with the rest of the drawings Luke had made for him. Where he could take off his mask and truly look at them, it was almost like a small art gallery. By now the sun was gone and the glow of Imperial City illuminated Luke's room. It was unfortunate he arrived home so late, leaving very little time to be with his son. Perhaps he could move things around to work from home more often.

“It is time for you to go to bed, little one,” Vader told his son, Luke turned his head towards his bed and he could feel his son's nerves rise through the force.

“Bad dream,” Luke said softly.

“What happened in your dream?” Vader asked, hoping it wasn’t anything more than just a made-up scenario. Depending on Lukes's answer, Vader would find out if Luke truly had prophetic dreams. 

“I was in a haunted house.” Luke looked up at him worried, “And there were ghosts everywhere!” Vader looked down at Luke, feeling truly relieved he didn't have those dreams. He finally realized how scared he truly was for Luke to have that trait of his. 

“It was only a dream, my son.” He could say with full confidence, “Ghosts are not real.” Luke tilted his head as he looked up at him.

“Really? How do you know?” Luke asked, Vader almost struggled to answer this. How do you disprove something exists? You can’t really, but he wanted to ease his son's mind.

“Because, I just do, they are made up to scare children.” Vader folded his arms, Luke gasped.

“Tha’s mean!” Luke folded his arms, mirroring his father. 

“Yes, it is rather mean, but now you know that ghosts are not real.” Luke hesitated, but nodded slowly. “Now get to bed, young one.” Luke turned around and climbed into bed. Vader turned the light off in Luke's room, “Goodnight, my son.” 

“Goodnight.” Luke smiled, Vader turned and left the room. The bedroom door swooshed closed and he walked down the hall towards his conference room. He had a lot of work to do and hadn’t planned on meditating anytime soon so now was the perfect time to start.

* * *

Hours had passed and he was finally reviewing a Senators proposal, it was  _ incredibly _ long and Vader had been waiting for a time like this to begin reviewing it. He was half tempted to have one of his personal aids to review it for him, though he knew better than to let someone with less authority know what was going up in the higher Imperial Government. Stuff like this was confidential. 

Things had been moving smoothly for the past couple hours, the floor was quiet and Vader opened up to the force to check Luke was still sound asleep several times throughout the night. Suddenly, he felt a small disturbance in the force, so small it was almost unnoticeable. He then heard a scream, Luke's scream. He suddenly tensed up and grabbed the hilt of his saber and quickly rushed out of his conference room. 

Had some assassin come for Luke? A spy? He stormed the hall towards Luke's room when Lukes bedroom door swooshed open and saw Luke run out crying. Luke ran up to him, Vader still clutched the hilt of his saber. “What happened!? Are you harmed, my son?” Vader asked. Luke buried his face in his cape and shook his head. Vader hesitantly let go of his saber, “What is troubling you?” 

“A bad dream and I fell off my bed,” Luke said as he stood back and wiped his eyes, “It was really scary.” Luke held out his arm, “Look!” Luke's arm had a small cut, nothing bad. Must have gotten it from the fall. 

“Stay right here, little one.” Luke nodded as he sniffled, Vader turned into his personal chambers. His personal chamber was basically a med bay, it was full of medical equipment and medicine. He opened one of the lockers that were full of bacta patches and pulled a small pack out then walked back out to the hall. Luke stood in the hall rubbing his eyes, Vader walked up to him. “Follow me.” 

Vader walked towards Luke's room, Luke followed close behind him. Vader walked in and saw Luke was looking around his room wearily by the doorframe. “What are you frightened of?” Vader asked, standing in the center of Luke's room with his arms behind his back.

“Ghosts,” Luke said softly, Vader sighed and beckoned for Luke to come towards him. Luke walked towards Vader from the door frame, Vader lifted him up and onto his bed.

“What have I said about ghosts?” Vader said, “They are not real.”

“Ghosts were watching me!” Luke cried, “Are you sure they aren’t real?” Luke asked in a whisper.

“I am positive, not hand me your arm.” Luke held out the arm with the small cut, Vader grabbed his arm and put the small bacta patch on Luke. “Does it hurt?” Luke shook his head and smiled.

“Miss Berik said bacta patches make ouchies go away.” Vader ruffled Lukes hair.

“Now, will you tell me what your dream was about?” Vader asked, not really knowing how to tackle this. In the past, Vader was at the receiving end of being convinced dreams were not real. He would try to comfort Luke to the best of his abilities, though he lacked confidence in said skill.

“I had a dream a ghost was watching me,” Luke said softly, looking up at Vader like he was petrified. Seeing his son so terrified broke something inside of him. Vader opened their bond and sent a constant wave of calm and ease towards Luke.

“You do not have to be afraid, my son.” Vader said, “Dreams are not real.”  _ For most people _ , though Luke did not look comforted by this statement. He still looked worried, “Why are you still frightened?” 

“Will you check for ghosts?” Luke asked in a small voice then pointed towards his dark closet, Vader sighed. If this would calm his son's nerves he was willing to do it, despite how it was somewhat trivial. He walked towards Luke's closet and turned the light on.

“Your closet has been cleared, no ghosts have been found.” Vader turned off the closet lights and walked back towards his son. “Now it is time for you to get back to bed, young one.” Luke nodded nervously and crawled under the covers then clutched his ducky blanket. 

“What if a ghost comes out when you leave? What if it gets me!” Luke asked in a frantic whisper. Vader was upset by how scared Luke was from this dream, it obviously had really affected him.

“I have checked your room, fortunately, there are no ghosts here.” Vader paused, “Luke, I would never let anything harm you.” Out of all the uncertainty of how to ease Luke about dreams, as he struggles with them, he was fully confident in that answer. He would never ever let anything harm his son.

“Have you had bad dreams before?” Luke asked, something inside of Vader panged. What was he supposed to say?  _ Yes, I had a dream your mother died _ , surely that would upset his child. But he would not lie to him.

“Yes, I have,” Vader told Luke, which seemed to pique his son's interest.

“What happened?” Luke asked as he tilted his head.

“I do not think telling you my dreams would help you.” Vader said, Luke looked slightly disappointed, “But like you were scared of your dream, I was scared of mine.” Luke looked at him shocked.

“You were scared?!” Luke asked in a whisper, “But you're never scared.” As Vader, the only thing he feared was losing Luke. As his old, weaker self, he was frightened constantly. Now he was stronger as Vader, there was no need to be afraid all the time.

“It is time for you to get to sleep, my son,” Vader said, changing the conversation. 

“Okay..” Luke said in a small voice, Vader ruffled Lukes's hair and began to walk towards Lukes's bedroom door. “Wait! Make the ships fly!” Vader turned and Luke smiled widely. Vader paused by the door frame then walked back over to Luke, he lifted his hand and summoned two of Luke's model ships. He flew them low in front of Luke and watched in fascination. They flew in circles, up and down, and chased each other.  Luke reached for them as he watched them go around in a circle, “Wow!” Luke smiled. Vader flew the model ships back where they were sitting.

“Goodnight, my son.” 

“Goodnight, father,” Luke said, Vader turned to leave Luke's room and turned off his light. His poor son, plagued by bad dreams. Not something Luke deserved at all, he would try to comfort Luke with the fact that they were just dreams. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there! I hope you guys like this latest chapter, my sister Aaveena (her AO3 name) helped me with this chapter. Also, I am going to change my name to Skyguy on AO3 so my name is more affiliated with Star Wars. I just wanted to let people know before its changed. Again, thank you for reading! Please let me know what you guys thought! I love hearing from you!


	23. The Field Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fourteen Year Old Luke is going on a Field Trip! Yipeeeee

“Tomorrow is the last day for you to turn in the field trip chip, get it signed by your parents or guardians for permission!” Luke's teacher, Mrs. Waldar, said as she stood in front of the class. Luke groaned as he remembered once again that he had forgotten to ask. Maybe it was because he wasn’t all too excited about this field trip, it was to the Imperial Palace. He had been there, what felt like a million times. He was going to be there later this week for a dinner party. It felt weird to ask permission to go to a building he went to quite often. The field trip was to talk about the structure of the Palace and how it ran the Empire, along with potential job opportunities. 

“Will we see anyone important that works at the Palace?” a girl named Lani asked from the back of the class.

“Possibly, it is entirely possible to see the Emperor.” Mrs. Waldar smiled as she raised her eyebrows, a couple of classmates gasped and some let out sounds of disbelief. “But, that is highly unlikely, he would have to be walking the same hall we would. The Palace is very large.” He knew non of his classmates would genuinely enjoy an interaction with the Emperor, he was possibly the most unpleasant  _ monster _ to roam the Galaxy. Luke was sure that if his class did run into the Emperor that the Emperor would single Luke out, embarrass him in front of everyone. 

The final bell rang, signaling the end of class and the school day. Luke stood from his chair and began to collect his things. “Remember! Field Trip Chip!” Mrs. Waldar said one final time. Luke made a mental note to remember this time, Luke was about to leave the class room when he then felt a tap on his shoulder, Luke turned around and saw another one of his classmates, Dash. 

“Hey Luke, I gotta ask you something,” Dash said as he adjusted the straps of his backpack.

“What is it?” Luke asked as he quirked his eyebrows, this guy never really talked to him so this seemed random to him. 

“So, I am writing an essay about your father.” Luke's eyes widened.

“My father?” Forgetting for practically a millisecond that Vader was not just his father, but second in command of the Empire. Dash nodded and ran his hand through his hair.

“Yeah, so- I was wondering if he would be at the palace tomorrow so I could ask him a couple of questions.” Luke blinked quickly in confusion, though he knew he heard him correctly.

“You wanna speak with him personally? One on one?” Luke asked, making sure he wasn’t misunderstanding him. Dash nodded, Luke took a moment to process, Dash had been one of the few people he had met that requested to speak with his father.

Luke sighed, “Uhm- He doesn’t-” Luke paused, trying to figure out how to word it. “He doesn’t exactly like personal questions, I can probably answer the questions you have for you.” Luke offered, Dash shook his head confidently.

“No, I want a first-hand source. I need one for my essay anyways.” Dash smiled, he was a pretty confident kid. Luke knew his father was intense to some people and would not be charmed by Dash’s tenacity. 

“Yeah, I think he will be there tomorrow. But there is no way of knowing if we will see him-” Luke was cut off.

“We can sneak off to his office,” Dash said as he folded his arms over his chest, Luke shook his head.

“No way, I’m not sneaking off, if we don’t see him tomorrow just give me your questions and I’ll ask them for you.” Dash seemed to mull over Lukes rules and nodded.

“Your cool, Skywalker.” Dash smiled and playfully punched Luke in the shoulder. Luke laughed somewhat awkwardly as he rubbed his shoulder, the light-hearted punch actually hurt slightly. Dash walked away, Luke let out a long sigh as he left the classroom towards the school's exit. He knew Dash would just get outright turned down for asking any questions about his father and just wished Dash would let Luke answer. His father wasn’t going to open up to some strange kid in Luke's class. 

If Luke was given the questions Dash had, he would just answer them himself and say his father answered. It would just be easier and far less awkward, Luke turned to leave his classroom and towards the landing pads where Lekauf would be.

* * *

“Well, maybe the field trip will be fun.” Lekauf said hopefully, Luke sighed. 

“I don’t know- I mean, I have been there so many times.” The speeder Lekauf picked him up in neared the hangar and slowly landed. “And now, this guy named Dash wants to ask my father questions for his essay.” Luke shook his head, Lekauf snorted in an attempt to hold in a laugh.

“Well, I hope things work out for Dash.” Lekauf said as he exited the speeder, “Com me if you need anything.” Lekauf walked towards his office, Luke nodded towards him and walked towards the lift. He entered the lift and felt his father's force presence brush against him as the lift ascended to his floor. Luke poked back at fathers presence as well and cut the bond once the lift doors open. 

He walked down the hall towards the conference room, he walked in and saw his father working on a datapad. “Hello, my son. How was your day at school?” Luke plopped down in one of the conference room seats.

“It was good,” Luke shuffled through his school bag and pulled out the permission chip. “Will you please sign this for a field trip.” His father looked down on the table and picked the chip up with the force and examined it.

“A field trip?” His father asked, “Where are you and your classmates going?”

“Well, actually, we are going to the palace.” Luke laughed, his father put the chip in a datapad and quickly wrote out his permission for Luke to go.

“I will be at the Palace tomorrow as well.” His father said as he flew the chip back towards Luke, Luke grabbed the chip and put it back in his bag. “Perhaps our paths shall cross.” Luke wondered what would happen, then remembered Dash would probably run-up to his dad as his class acted scared of him.

“Hey, if we do, a kid in my class might run up and ask you something.” Luke told his father, “His name is Dash.”

“If your classmate attempts to speak with me, I will not be an active participant in the conversation.” His father said sternly, Luke sighed. “Why does he want to ask me questions?” 

“He has to write an essay about you.” Luke laughed, “Which is kinda weird.”

“Why is that weird? I am a prominent figure in the Empire.” His father replied, Luke shrugged.

“I don't know, it's weird to have someone write about my dad, I guess” Luke smiled, Luke stood from his seat and grabbed his school bag.

“I suppose I can understand why you would find it strange.” His father commented.

“I am going to go finish my homework.” Luke turned and exited the conference room and walked into his bedroom.

* * *

“I think the class is waiting over there,” Aaron said as he pointed in the direction of the landing pads. They had just left homeroom and were told to meet with their Imperials History Class for pick up on the landing pads.

“Let's go!” Luke smiled, they both ran towards the group. As Luke and Aaron neared their class, their teacher's eyes lit up. Luke handed her the chip his father sighed and she plugged it into her datapad and smiled.

“Okay, Skywalker and Thalcorr are here.” Mrs. Waldar mumbled as she wrote something down in her datapad then looked up at Luke, “Alright Luke, your partnered up with Dash and Aaron you're partnered up with Lani.” Dash walked up to Luke and smiled.

“Hey Skywalker!” Dash punched Luke's arm playfully, it hurt his arm once again but played it off by laughing.

"Hey Dash." Luke smiled awkwardly.

"C'mon, let's get on the transport!" Dash wrapped his arm around Luke's shoulder and led Luke onto the public transport, they plopped down onto seats right next to each other. The transport lifted and flew into the direction of the palace. Luke  watched the city skyline as they moved through Coruscanti traffic, soon enough, they neared the Palace and landed on the landing pads. Luke and Dash stood up from their seats and moved off the transport. Their teacher waited for the group to stand next to their respected partner.

“Alright class, take these,” Mrs. Waldar handed out datapads to each of the kids. “Your assignment is to write down something that you learned during this trip.” Several of the kids groaned. Luke grabbed the datapad and smiled, somewhat optimistic that maybe he would learn something and this trip wouldn’t be totally boring. 

“Ugh, I can’t believe she is making us do an assignment on the trip,” Dash whispered, Luke found himself agreeing with Dash. Luke thought the point of field trips was to have fun and a break from school. 

“Follow me, class, we are going to see the main entrance hall.” Mrs. Waldar smiled and walked up the steep staircase out front of the palace. Luke and Dash followed, the class made it up the staircase and walked into the main entrance hall. It was huge, with pillars lining the hall. The Emperor had created sculptures of himself to greet whoever walked in. Several of the kids examined the sculptures and artwork lining the hall. 

Luke eyed the Emperor's sculpture, he guessed it was from a time before he looked into a wrinkled monster. Luke was half tempted to write,  _ “I learned the Emperor used to look human.” _ In his datapad, but surely, a school funded by the Emperor would not find that all too amusing. He wrote something vague about learning the appreciation of different art forms while examining the artwork.

Mrs. Waldar led them down the hall, Luke and his classmates looked around as they moved deeper into the palace. He then felt his father's force presence brush up against his,  _ “Hello, my son.”  _ His father spoke in his head.  _ “Where are you?” _

_ “I am somewhere around the entrance hall.”  _ Luke replied.

_ “How coincidental, I am around that area of the palace as well.” _ Luke froze for a moment, thinking how awkward it would be for his class to see his father. He was always uncomfortable with how scared people got around him, reminding Luke what his job must entail for getting that reaction from others. He  _ did not _ like to think about this aspect and spent very little time doing so. He much preferred just thinking of him as his father, just his father, the man who raised him.

_ “How is your trip so far?”  _ His father asked, before Luke could answer he was pulled from his connection when he heard Dash’s voice.

“Hey, Skywalker!” Dash patted Luke's shoulders, Luke turned to look at him and blinked his eyes quickly. 

“Oh sorry- just- just lost in thought.” Luke laughed nervously, Dash laughed.

“No problem, buddy!” he pat Luke on the back, “Now do you think I could ask you questions about your dad?” Dash looked incredibly excited and held his datapad, ready to write down what Luke would say.

“Uhm- what do you want to know?” Luke asked as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

“Well, what is he like? What does he like to do? Does he have any hobbies? Have you seen his lightsabers?! Does he always wear the mask? Is he cool?” Dash asked, Luke looked at him perplexed. 

“Is this for- for your essay?” Luke asked, Dash shook his head.

“No, I just want to know cause he is so cool!” Luke almost snorted but his face formed a tight smile.

“You think he is cool?” Luke laughed softly, he has never heard someone else describe his father as being cool. He doesn’t know if he would really use that term to describe his father, his dad was strict and not a go with the flow type of person. He stuck with a schedule, he worked a lot and has somewhat of a temper.

“Yeah, I mean, I have seen holos of him, he just looks awe-” Dash was cut off by the class's loud gasps. Luke and Dash turned their heads in the direction their class was looking and saw his father with Grand Moff Tarkin walking down the halls. 

“Class, make some room for these men,” Mrs. Waldar said as she motioned them all to stand by the hallway walls. The class lined up against the wall, shoulder to shoulder. Luke complied as well and stood next to Dash and Aaron against the wall. Luke looked at his classmates who watched his father and Tarkin walk down the hall with their mouth agape. Luke could feel their shock and amazement as they neared, Luke wasn’t sure if his father was going to look over to Luke, acknowledging that he saw him.

Luke saw something flash in the corner of his eyes then saw his partner Dash run-up to his father and Tarkin. Luke’s eyes widened and gasped along with the rest of his class, Tarkin looked practically disgusted and his father held his hands behind his back. “Hello Lord Vader! Wow, I can’t believe I am actually meeting you! Can I ask some questions?” Dash asked as he held his datapad and looked at his father expectantly. 

“It looks like you have a fan, Lord Vader.” Tarkin sneered with a grin, Mrs. Waldar walked towards them, though somewhat hesitantly.

“I-I apologies, Lord Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin.” Mrs. Waldar gently grabbed Dash’s shoulder to pull him back.

“Apologies are not necessary, just remove him from my sight,” His father said sternly to the teacher as he clenched his fists tightly.

“I disagree, I believe apologies are very necessary, Lord Vader,” Tarkin said sternly, his brows furrowed. 

“I was not aware of how easily offended you get, Tarkin.” His father said, “Very well, direct all apologies to Tarkin, he needs them apparently.” Tarkin looked at him incredulously, his father then turned to Dash, “I have no interest in pursuing an interview with you.”

“Please Lord Vader, it will only be for a second!” Dash begged, Mrs. Waldar gasped and dragged him back to the wall next to Luke. Once Dash was placed right next to Luke, Luke looked at him incredulously.

“What's wrong with you!?” Luke hissed to Dash, Dash looked at him confused and then shrugged.

“What!? I am an opportunity seeker!” Dash whispered back, Luke rolled his eyes but looked up and saw his father standing in front of both of them with his arms folded over his chest. “Oh- so changed your mind on the interview, I see.” Dash smiled as he pulled out his datapad and looked up at his father.

“Quite the opposite, I do not think I will ever muster the interest to have an interview with you.” Dash looked shocked, his eyes wide. His father turned to Luke, “Keep your  _ friend _ in line.” 

“I’ll do my best.” Luke shrugged, his father just stared at him for a moment before turning to the teacher. 

“I suggest you keep your students in line, the Emperor is not as forgiving as I am.” Mrs. Waldar nodded quickly.

“Yes, my Lord.” She bowed, his father turned to leave with Tarkin, several students bowed towards him as he passed, including Dash. They all watched as his father and Tarkin turned the corner at the end of the hall. Luke could hear some of his classmates let out sighs, Dash faced Luke.

“Oh wow, do you think he liked me!?” Dash smiled, Luke crossed his arms over his chest.

“Uhm-” Luke ran a hand through his hair, shocked at how oblivious his partner must be. Then Aaron’s partner, Lani, walked up to both Dash and Luke.

“Wow Dash, I can’t believe you spoke with Lord Vader, you're so brave.” Lani smiled as she twirled her hair between her fingers, Luke looked at her shocked. Dash was not brave, if speaking with Vader was a marker for bravery, Luke was the bravest one in his school, perhaps, galaxy. 

“Alright class, let's try to finish this tour without more trouble.” Mrs. Waldar sighed, she walked down the hall and the rest of his class followed. Luke followed the group down the hall and felt his father's presence connect with his.

  
_ “Do not get into trouble, young one.” _ His father instructed, Luke smiled softly and sent acknowledgment through their bond. His father's end of the bond sent a small burst of endearment to Lukes, then the connection was cut. Luke couldn’t help but smile more, he continued through the tour of the Palace without incident.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Luke goes on a field trip with a fanboy lmao, Dash is incredibly oblivious to Vader. I hope you guys liked this chapter! I got a couple of requests to do a field trip story, I did my best so I hope it's good!! Please let me know what you thought! I love hearing what you guys thought!


	24. A Bad Grade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twelve-year-old Luke gets his grades back in school and didn't do as well in class as he had hoped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I made Imperial Luke into a series because the next story I post will be longer than a one-shot so I thought I would make it a story onto itself. I will probably post that in the next couple of days, but I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

“Alright class, I am going to hand out your report chips now. Have your parents or guardian sign it so I knew they’ve viewed it,” Luke's teacher, Mrs. Autem, began to hand out chips to each student, “And I can tell forged signatures, so don’t even try.” She said as she eyed a couple of his classmates. She reached to Luke and handed his chip to him, Luke grabbed it anxiously and shoved it in his datapad. 

The screen lit up and processed the information on the chip, a display popped on the screen listing Lukes's classes on one side with the corresponding grade on the other. Luke examined the screen, his eyes rolled over his grades, but stopped quickly. He took several double-takes, making sure his eyes were not deceiving him.  _ F _ , he got an F, he couldn’t believe it.

Well, maybe it wasn’t totally unbelievable, he struggled in his Histories class. It was hard to focus, especially when they talked about his father. It was genuinely weird to learn about him in school, so he ended up zoning out, he knew it wasn’t a good habit but couldn’t help it. He looked at his grade miserably, trying to avoid thinking what his father would say.

He did not tolerate failure in school, his other grades were fine but this one stuck out like a sore thumb. He would be grounded until adulthood for sure, maybe even through his early adulthood. His stomach churned anxiously as the bell signaling the end of class rang, Luke pulled the data chip and shoved it in his bag and stood up. 

“What do you look so upset for?” Luke turned and saw his classmate Lani look at him with her arms crossed. Luke quirked his mouth into a slight frown and looked to the ground.

“Oh- just- I didn’t do as well as I hoped,” Luke replied referencing their report chips, Lani nodded in understanding as Aaron walked up. 

  
“You should just hide it,” She stated flatly, Aaron looked at her shocked.

“Hide what?” Aaron asked as he looked between the two, Lani laughed.

“His report chip, that's what I do if I do bad.” Aaron’s mouth dropped open and looked at Luke then at Lani.

“And that's why you get detention when your parents don’t sign your card!” He pointed at Lani and turned to look at Luke, “You can’t hide it, you would get in more trouble.” Luke let out a weary sigh, he was in trouble either way.

“I won’t hide my report chip,” Luke reasoned, “Probably,” He added quietly, Aaron looked somewhat relieved.

“C’mon, lets go.” Aaron turned to leave, Lani nudged Luke on the shoulder and gave him an encouraging look as Luke followed Aaron. He looked down to the floor while he walked down the hall next to Aaron. “Didn’t do too good, huh?” 

“No, I failed history.” Luke slumped his shoulders, “I feel like an idiot.” Luke mumbled, Aaron’s eyes widened.

“You are not an idiot just because you failed a class Luke,” Aaron laughed, “Everyone has a subject they struggle in.” Luke nodded, knowing that Aaron also struggled in a class made him feel somewhat better. But that's not what he was worried about, he was worried how mad or disappointed his father would be. Hiding the chip sounded appealing, he knew he couldn’t hide it forever, he would get detention. He just wanted to put off his father from seeing it as long as possible. 

* * *

Luke was in the middle of being flown home when he caught the sight of his father's building in the distance, his stomach felt like it was doing flips. Lekauf pulled in the speeder slowly in the hangar and landed gently. Luke slowly got out of the speeder, Lekauf looked at him funny. “Are you sure you're okay Luke? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” 

Luke thinned his lips, “Yes, I am probably just going to get a life sentence, is all.” Luke sighed, Lekauf looked at him curiously.

“What do you mean?” Lekauf rounded the speeder and walked up to Luke, Luke let out a long sigh.

“Failed one of my classes,” Luke mumbled, Lekauf took in a sharp breath and his face cringed somewhat. This reaction did not sit well with Luke, perhaps Lekauf could tell and his demeanor relaxed.

“Luke-I am sure everything is going to be okay,” Lekaud smiled, “You won’t get a life sentence, your life isn’t a holodrama.” Lekauf laughed, well it sure felt like a holodrama sometimes, but he figured that's what he gets for being Darth Vader's son. Lekauf patted Luke on the shoulder, Luke smiled, he really did appreciate when Lekauf tried to comfort him, despite it not being very effective. Luke slowly made his way to the lift and walked in, as the lift ascended he slowly opened up to the force to see if his father was there. 

The usual overwhelming presence of his father was not there, Luke let out a sigh of relief, Luke was highly considering taking Lani’s advice. Hiding the report chip would not fix the problem, Luke knew that, but it would buy him time to gather the courage and show his father his grade. Despite what Lekauf said, his father was not above grounding him for life. 

The lift doors opened, Luke stepped out and rushed slightly to his room. He walked in and looked around for potential hiding spots and pursed his lips, “Hmmm…” Luke walked to the center of his room and eyed his closet. Luke walked in and turned the light on, this would be a good place to hide it. Luke didn’t keep a very tidy closet, hiding it under his bundle of clothes, for now, would do. Luke crouched down and stuffed it in the pile then stood back up feeling slightly better. 

With the recent revelation of his grades, it became apparent that he should probably study more for his history class. Luke walked out of his closet and towards his desk, plopped down on the seat and pulled out his datapad. He would study and go over history information until his father came home. 

* * *

Luke was phasing in and out of sleep while his head lay on his desk, his mind was running and buzzing with history facts he had been reading all evening. His brain felt numb and tired, maybe he overdid it on the study thing. He jolted up in his seat when he felt his father's presence poke at him through the force then surround him. If he played it cool, his father wouldn’t question why he was acting weird and then try to avoid telling the truth without lying, which was incredibly tricky.

Luke stood up from his desk and over towards the panel by his door and quickly ordered something to eat and pushed back the thought of his card report. He apparently screamed his feelings and thoughts into the force, he stepped out of his room to wait for the droid to bring him food when the lift doors opened revealing his father. Luke took in a deep breath then gave him a smile.

“Hey- whats up? Whats goin on? Hows- hows it been?” Luke asked nervously and folded his arms over his chest trying to show the confidence he lacked. His father walked up to him and folded his arms as well as he looked down on Luke.

“Why are you acting like that?” His father asked, Luke began to tap his finger rapidly on his arm as he grew more nervous.

“Acting like what? Just acting like myself,” Luke laughed nervously, he felt his father's gaze burn into him, even with the mask. Luke then spotted the service droid rolling over towards them, Luke maneuvered out of his fathers way towards the droid and took the tray of food. “Thank you.” Luke smiled and turned back to his father, “Oh well, my food is here, I suppose we can finish this chat later.”

“No, we can continue this  _ chat _ while you eat.” His father said sternly, “Follow me,” His father turned and headed towards the conference room. Luke let out a pained sigh and glanced at his bedroom than at the back of his father's form walking towards the conference room. He hesitantly followed behind him and into the conference room. He placed his tray on the table and sat at the end of the table while his father went to the other end. 

“Explain why you are exhibiting strange behavior.” His father told him, Luke sank slightly in his seat.

“ _ Define _ strange behavior- maybe this is my new normal.” Luke smiled with his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

“You know well what I mean, young one.” His father pointed at Luke, “Cease this game, tell me what you are hiding. I interrogate people for a living, it will not take long for you to divulge what you are hiding.” 

“ _ If _ I am hiding something, am I not allowed to have secrets of my own?!” Luke asked, waving his arms around.

“You may have private information you keep to yourself, you are  _ not _ allowed to hide things from me.” Luke looked down at his food and pushed it around, wishing to just zap away from this conversation. Luke didn’t respond, too anxious and wasn’t all to sure what to say. “Do not test my patience, young one.” His father said in a slow, dangerous voice. Luke bit his lip nervously and looked around the room. 

“It's not a big deal, really,” Luke leaned over and grabbed a bite of his food more so for something to do as he became more self-aware under his father's gaze. 

“If it is not a big deal, then telling me what it is should not be a problem.” Just as Luke was about to find another way to deflect the situation, a droid rolled in carrying something that looked somewhat familiar. Luke’s eyes widened when he realized it was his report chip. Luke gasped loudly as the droid held it up.

“Master Skywalker, you left this in your laundry,” The maid droid beeped, Luke jumped and grabbed the chip and held it behind his back.

“It's nothing!!!!” Luke said loudly, looking at the droid petrified that it brought in the chip. The droid rolled out of the room, Luke turned back to face his father, still holding the chip behind his back. 

“What is that?” His father asked.

“Nothing,” Luke said quickly, Luke felt the chip slip out of his hands and watched it fly across the room, Luke reached out to grab it desperately but it flew into his father's hand. His father examined the chip, turning it over in his hand.

“Is this chip from school?” His father inquired, Luke rubbed his arm awkwardly and looked down to the ground. Was he supposed to keep begging for his father to not look at it or just give up? Luke figured the more he begged his father the more his father wanted to see what he was hiding, the charade was over.

“Who can say, a lot of chips look the same and... “ Luke trailed off as his father picked up his datapad and plugged the chip into it. Luke watched anxiously as his father looked down onto the datapad, Luke desperately wanting to know what his father was thinking. His father was silent, allowing Lukes's anxiety to flood his very being.

“I see it is your report chip,” His father said after the long span of silence, “I see you have done rather poorly in your History class, why?” His father asked sharply. 

“I- I don’t know- I struggled in that class,” Luke said awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck looking to the floor. 

“Why did you not ask for my assistance?!” His father asked, “Why did you hide this from me!?” 

“I- I just didn’t want you to think I was an idiot, I guess.” Luke said softly, “It's weird, learning about you, you're my dad. Once you're mentioned I just lose focus I guess.” Luke added. 

“Luke, if you need help I will not think you are stupid.” Luke looked up at him, “You are only twelve, it is natural to need help with some things.” 

“So, you aren’t mad at me?” Luke asked.

“No, I am not mad at you, just disappointed.” His father paused, “You are grounded.” Luke looked at him shocked and gasped loudly. “Why do you act like you did not expect this?” 

“I thought that maybe you would give me a break..” Luke shrugged his shoulders.

“No.” Luke's shoulders slumped, “For a month.”

“For a month?!?” Luke asked.

“I believe that is what I said.” Luke sat back down on the chair and continued to eat his food, which began to get a little cold. Luke pushed around his food some more and swung his feet back and forth lightly. 

“You really don’t think I’m stupid?” Luke asked, his father was using a lightpen to sign his signature on the datapad and pulled out the chip and flew it over to Luke. 

“No, I do not think you are stupid, Luke.” His father stated, “Just misguided.” Luke smiled and let out a sigh.

“Wow, I thought I was going to be grounded for life.” Luke took a bite of his food.

“Do not be absurd, failure in a class is not worthy of such a punishment.” 

"What is worthy of that?" 

"I am not giving you any ideas," His father said as he worked on his datapad. Luke continued to eat the rest of his food, he was glad to not have to worry about hiding this chip anymore. Being grounded for month sucked, but it didn't go as terrible as Luke had worried, the night carried on as usual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you liked this latest chapter! Like I said, the story will be up soon. Please let me know what you thought!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys like this story! I love to hear what you guys think! Thank you for reading!


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